First To Be A Female Leader In APINDO, Women Leadership Version Of Shinta Kamdani

Shinta Kamdani (Instagram)

JAKARTA - Gender equality has become one of the most endless topics discussed among the Indonesian people to date. The existence of deep-rooted social construction causes the achievement of gender equality to still be difficult to achieve. Women are the most vulnerable parties in this context. The gender inequality experienced by women includes many things, one of which relates to career development and leadership.

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani or familiarly called Shinta Kamdani, Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (APINDO) and CEO of the Sintesa Group, assessed that women's representation in leadership is like a pyramid form, which means that the higher the position, the less representation. Furthermore, for him, women are present in the middle management area of around 20%, if the upper management is only around 15%. Women still choose not to be promoted to their positions in order to achieve work-life balances. This stigma is what we need to solve," said Shinta.

In the 12th Talkshow Capa Blitz (Business Leadership Talks) event, Shinta had the opportunity to share further her valuable experiences in dealing with gender inequality during her career. As the first female leader, Shinta said that leading APINDO was not an easy thing. Moreover, APINDO itself is an old organization in Indonesia that has been formed since 1952, and has never been led by a woman. But she also emphasized that reaching this point is not an instant. Earlier after returning to Indonesia after studying abroad, I started full-time work under a family company. Even though the company belongs to the family, I started my career from the lowest unit as a salesman," said Shinta.

Shinta also added that at that time she was lucky to have a superior who could help open her perspective on women's opportunities to become leaders, even in sectors that are usually dominated by men. In addition, the world of sales contributes to providing a wider picture to Shinta regarding the challenges that women usually face in the world of work. The possibility of overdominating the income of husbands obtained by female workers is able to influence the dynamics of women's households.

Regarding her journey to become CEO, Shinta has always instilled confidence in herself and others that leadership has every long phase and must be passed. Exemplified himself from being a staff member for 9 years, being one of the management ranks for 16 years, only then being a CEO in the 25th year We are before becoming a leader, we must first know how to become a worker. If we are directly as leaders, we have never learned how to lead these people," he said to Cecilia Ong, Chief Operating Officer of Capap.

On the other hand, the principle of leadership held firmly by Shinta in establishing her company cannot be separated from 3 components. First, leaders must have a vision, mission, and corporate values so that they can run together. Second, Human Capital Development is the key to helping companies grow. Finally, the servant leadership. Shinta gave an example as a leader in fact not only leading, but also serving employees when in the process.

Finally, Shinta gave a message to Indonesian women who want to navigate their careers and leadership to always apply 3P (Purpose, Passion, Perseverance). In order to get it all, as women, they need to know first what they want, love what they do, and of course be equipped with hard work and never give up.