Can a woman lead a company?

The simple answer is yes. But of course, the answer can be more complicated, depending on the industry and workplace culture.

One clue to the inclusiveness and diverseness of a particular company is the gender composition of its leadership. A company that is committed to gender equality is sure to provide opportunities for its female talents to advance and shine at the top.

The reality is that gender inequality still exists at most companies in Indonesia, where women professionals face numerous challenges in climbing up the corporate ladder.

It therefore comes as no surprise that few Indonesian women hold leadership positions in a company, let alone in traditionally male-dominated industries such as aviation and manufacturing.

Among the handful is Veranita Yosephine Sinaga, who was appointed as CEO of low-cost carrier Indonesia AirAsia in 2019, just eight months after she had joined the company as deputy CEO.

“It is still harder for female talents to climb up the ladder in many companies due to the multiple challenges they face,” said Veranita, the first female CEO at the airline.

“Inclusion and diversity in the airline industry still has a long way to go. I still think that the incoming pool of talents, especially female talents, is still very limited,” she added.

Veranita noted that many men tended to assume that women were not competent until they proved otherwise.

Female professionals also faced stigma, including an assumption that women in positions of leadership were ambitious, aggressive, bossy and other negative attributes, according to Veranita.

She acknowledged most companies often took stock of business concerns when considering whether a woman could fill a senior leadership position, generally with doubts over female leaders’ capacity to perform better than their male colleagues in growing a company.

Addressing gender inequality in the workplace was thus imperative to convince companies that inclusion and diversity could help it maximize business and growth opportunities.

“It is a pity that most businesses have yet to take advantage of the talents available regardless of their gender,” lamented Veranita.

A strong believer in diversity and inclusivity as key to a company’s sustainability, Veranita overcame the challenges she faced to advance in her career, despite the generally unfavorable environment in terms of gender issues.

Working smart and hard was her strategy to tackle performance-related gender bias.

“I showed that I could achieve all targets assigned to me,” she said, reminiscing about her journey to becoming CEO at Indonesia AirAsia.

Long before joining the airline company, however, she had an invaluable and unforgettable experience that would develop her into a champion of gender equality in leadership.

Veranita recalled that when worked at bottled water company Aqua, she took part in a five-year leadership mentorship program. During the program, she had an opportunity to watch and learn how her mentor, a Dutch CEO, faced challenges in decision-making.

“He also coached me how to overcome challenges and gave me constructive and encouraging feedback. It was the most rewarding experience I gained from the company, which enhanced my confidence as a woman,” she enthused.

Equipped with leadership knowledge and skills, Veranita created a gender equality program on YouTube that had a positive impact on the company’s global employees.

“Even the CEO of the corporate group appreciated the movement that I, from Indonesia, initiated, and the efforts I made to pay it forward during my stint at the company,” she said.

Veranita’s success in leading Indonesia AirAsia draws upon her previous managerial and leadership experience, including as sales director at Kraft Heinz Indonesia.

She also expressed her delight at being part of AirAsia, as the airline honored diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

“I think being the CEO of an airline company that delivers good performance has given me a lot of opportunities to share my voice and to serve as a role model for other Indonesian women, especially in terms of women in leadership,” Veranita said.

“It is time to counter everyday challenges and find balance between personal and professional responsibilities,” she added.

While acknowledging that many female workers lacked the skills and courage to aspire to better or equal pay, she said the pay gap at many companies could generally be overcome by increasing companies’ awareness about gender equality, including equal pay.

At Indonesia AirAsia, Veranita helped develop workplace diversity and inclusion by establishing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee for employees last year.

The committee oversees workforce composition and workplace policy, as well as work practices and culture, including how to detect equality issues.

The DEI Committee is composed of Veranita, the human resources department and a mix of female and male employee representatives from various divisions, generations, backgrounds and locations.

“The essence is that everyone feels included,” she stressed.

“We use the inputs from the committee to reflect on our current practices and [to make] improvements, such as openness, transparency, and giving opportunities to minorities, making more people heard.”

For example, she said, when a female pilot or female cabin crew was pregnant, they had to take unpaid leave for several months.

“We saw this was an unequal opportunity and so we abolished the policy. We also made sure that even though they were not able to fly, they could still work as either an instructor or trainer, or help with manual office jobs, like taxes,” she said.

In addition to her job as CEO, Veranita is also AirAsia Group’s regional value ambassador for Transparency.

She has been recognized by United Nations Women in 2016 with the HeForShe award for her efforts in creating a gender equal world, as well as for her endeavors in promoting gender equality worldwide.

Veranita emphasized that transparency was important in ensuring that diversity and inclusion were part of the decision-making process. Transparency allowed everyone to participate in giving meaningful inputs, sharing their concerns and have access to corporate information.

“We try to avoid the close-door decision-making process, where decisions are made by certain top leaders in the company and the rest just follow,” she said.

While having a strong gender equality policy could help more women to reach leadership positions, Veranita said the issue also required adequate investment and attention.

“This means that companies must be bold in investing in leadership training and other related training programs,” she said.

In addition to setting gender equality targets, she also suggested, “The companies’ vision [for gender equality] should be translated into real actions.”

She also cautioned that encouraging the participation of male leaders and employees in the decision-making process was key to giving women an opportunity to grow. Otherwise, men could feel excluded and that they were in a battle between genders.

“I want to show that women can bring a lot of things to the table. It is not a matter of whether men can do better or not. But I think businesses will not be able to take full advantage of their talents until they give equal opportunities to women. If given the opportunity, women can also perform,” she said.

“I want to push forward and at the same time, I am also trying in my organization and in my team to bring more women to leadership roles.”

She also revealed that the role of chief financial officer at Indonesia AirAsia was also held by a woman.

As gender equality was now part of the company’s strategy, more female talents would be sent to attend leadership training programs so they would be eligible for holding key positions, Veranita explained.

“Looking ahead, I want to see more female CEOs and directors in the airline industry in Indonesia. I am sure women can perform in leadership roles if they are given an opportunity.

“I hope any conversation regarding gender equality and women’s empowerment can push forward and is followed by concrete actions with measurable impacts,” said Veranita.

After nearly five years as Indonesia AirAsia CEO, “I feel like I want to do more, because the journey of being a leader is challenging and at the same time, rewarding,” she said.

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