Female Leaders I Look Up To by Isabelle Remedios

Introducing Isabelle Remedios With Protiviti

Q. Tell us about your involvement with iGROWW.

When I started at Protiviti, I was informed about our internal networks, and iGROWW stuck out to me quite quickly. Fostering a positive and empowering environment for women is something I’m passionate about. At university, I lived on a residential campus and was the designated Women’s Officer in my third year, so I recognise the importance of having a strong female community in a workplace.

I became the Sydney iGROWW Office Lead at the beginning of 2021. It has been a pleasure to work with other Australia and global leads to workshop national initiatives, understand how we can communicate key messages and maximise participation across the firm. One of our key initiatives includes clothes donation drives for women seeking employment, but who might not necessarily have the appropriate clothes for an interview. We also have an audiobook club that meets on a regular basis to discuss books that relate to female empowerment in the workplace and in general. The most recent books we discussed were Michelle Obama’s Becoming and Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. It has been such an empowering forum to be able to voice our opinions and promote discussion.

Q. What female leaders inspire you?

Most women in my life inspire me, but to be more specific in terms of leaders, Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand Prime Minister, is one of the most inspiring modern-day female leaders, and this became particularly apparent to me during the course of the pandemic.

There are undoubtedly a lot of strong female leaders in the world, but often they must put on this façade of strength and assertiveness to match the energy of a typical male leader. However, through Jacinda’s tenure, she has exhibited compassion, understanding and empathy for her people, and this has resonated with people on a global scale. To give some examples, the way she handled the Christchurch shootings as well as the pandemic, has been nothing short of admirable. You can see how she mirrors the emotions of her people undergoing challenging times. She finds a way to relate to the New Zealand community, which has reshaped the way we should perceive leadership.

To quote Jacinda herself, 'One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is I’m not aggressive or assertive enough or maybe somehow because I’m empathetic, I’m weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.'

What we can take away is the fact that empathy is a very underrated quality in leaders. Being able to relate to those you are leading on an emotional level is a key driver for team building, trust and morale. And at the end of the day, we are all human, and I believe Jacinda embodies that well in her leadership style.

Q. Why is it important to have female representation at all levels in an organisation?

At any level, it’s important to have a reference point who can provide sound advice and counsel from the female perspective. At Protiviti, there are many incredibly talented and inspirational women who emphasise the importance of mentorship. As both a mentor and mentee myself, this relationship is very unique and has given me guidance to make decisions in terms of my career and more broadly.

Also, as a female, I want to encourage and empower the more junior women to pursue their career goals and have confidence in their pursuits. At the same time, I want to have strong female representation above me so to have something to aspire to and to provide advice on how to overcome certain challenges, having faced them in their own career journeys.

Q. What are the challenges that a woman in consulting faces? What are the best ways to address or possibly overcome them?

A big challenge is trying to shift the perception that women are more emotional than men. As a generalisation, women are more in touch with their emotions, and it is more socially acceptable for women to voice them. As I said, we are all human, and emotional intelligence should be embraced. It shows that you care.

My personal preference, for example, would be to work with people who are in touch with their emotions and are able to be transparent without them feeling judged. It is important to build trust this way. We still have a long way to go in terms of challenging this conventional perception. A way we can overcome that challenge is for managers and leadership teams to encourage people to speak up and be able to say if you are feeling a certain type of way. You shouldn’t have to feel reserved about it. I’ve found in my experience by articulating 'I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with this project' or 'I’m feeling a bit nervous about this meeting,' and having those transparent conversations about my emotions, has made me feel better. So I’m trying to normalise that conversation because we all have feelings of nervousness and apprehension, and they should be articulated. We should continue working through that.

Another challenge facing women in the industry is starting a family — having to take on the physical and emotional stress of having a child and balancing that with a busy consulting job while you are looking after kids is something that separates the experience between men and women in their careers. Protiviti does a really good job to accommodate this. In Australia, we offer paternity leave and flexible working arrangements available across our five national offices.

Having my career progression halted due to going on maternity leave is something that worries me a little. However, I do think the business model is evolving to a more flexible working arrangement to support that balance, and that will favour women who go on maternity leave as well. Overall, we are heading in the right direction, and we have to make sure we continue with that momentum.

Protiviti Celebrates Diversity, Equality and Female Leadership

Protiviti appreciates the value of promoting a multifaceted and safe environment, which includes equality, diversity and female leadership. Our goal is to foster an environment that celebrates women in the workplace through innovative programs and initiatives. Protiviti provides staff with unconscious bias training to help challenge traditional stereotypes around gender and diversity. We are each encouraged to ask questions such as, 'Would I have made that assumption about what that colleague said if they were a different gender, race or age?' and question why we think the way we do about diversity.

Notable awards and accolades that Protiviti has received that highlight our female-focused initiatives include being named 'Best Company for Multicultural Women' by Seramount (2021), being placed on Fortune’s 2021 'Best Workplaces for Women' list and being placed on FairyGodBoss’ 2021 'Best Companies for Women' list.

Want to hear more from Izy? Reach out here: [email protected]

For more information about Protiviti, visit: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion