Women believe that they must emulate men to succeed. Certain cultures make it impossible for women executives to succeed. From the beginning of time, there has been global injustice against women, and this scenario has continued unabated due to the failure by women to support each other. Women should see each other as sisters, and not as competitors. Women should burn the barriers of culture, tradition, class and race, which have long been used to suppress their ascendance into leadership roles. They should not imitate men but be themselves and support women candidates for management or political office.  

Tradition and culture have disadvantaged women, and made them believe they cannot succeed. This is partly the reason why women are always inclined to suppress each other. Tradition brought up women to believe their role was to be wives and mothers. They were brought up to see the next woman as a threat. It was believed that women lack intellectual capacity and emotional fortitude to make the difficult decisions that leaders are required to do. Women were brought up to believe that this is a men’s world, and that they are only there to support men. This concept has made women fragile and dependent on men. All these misconceptions may prevail for long if women fail to realise the urgent need to support one another. It is only such a realisation that will help propel women up the ladder, and place them on an equal footing with their male counterparts.

If women were to be a unit and support each other, the world would be better balanced. There would be more focus on education, health and poverty eradication. There would be less corruption and more peace if women are given an opportunity to lead as they tend to be more focused on what is best for the people they are leading. With women supporting each other, businesses will be more profitable, government will be stronger, families will be happier and communities more united. We do not know what the world would be like if women rule it, but what we do know is that if women are in leadership positions or involved in making decisions, societies work better. Women, therefore, need to support each other in leadership positions from lower levels. This could have an added advantage of reducing violence and enhancing stability in society.

Women are warriors and with the right support, they can occupy any position normally reserved for men. Things would get done quicker and problems would be solved through discussion, and not with force or violence. If women achieve power in a men’s world, then they can do as well as men can. Women should strive to promote other women. Nothing is more depressing than seeing successful women trying to score points by being the only women amongst men. Instead, women should support one another, and challenge men as equals. Diversity allows us to look at the world differently, and with women also occupying leadership positions, there will be different ways of analysing issues, and different ways of offering solutions. Women in leadership increase the horizon and the thinking process. Women are more cooperative, inclusive and team-oriented, and these characteristics are good traits for development and should be harnessed. Women bear children, and as mothers they are more peace-oriented. They think of their children and the generations to come. This is what our society needs, and unless women start to support each other for leadership roles, society will continue to be deprived of such nation-building traits.

It is, therefore, imperative for people to realise that time has evolved, as well as culture and traditions. Gone are the days when women were only regarded as child-bearers and wives. Time has come for women to assume more responsibilities in society, and this is only possible if women can begin to support each other.  Our society has for long been male-dominated, partly because women tend to pull each other down, while rallying behind men.  Women should thus take advantage of their natural instincts of caring, and strengthen each other’s bid to assume leadership responsibilities in their societies. It is only then that women will begin to contribute significantly to the development and prosperity of society at large.