RIFKA ZIYARD
COLOMBO : Women are accelerating across diverse fields and breaking boundaries. The right doze of support, motivation and encouragement would no doubt pave the way for many to gradually reach the peak. Colombo Times in discussion with Chamila Cooray, requested her to share her thoughts on important focus areas for young aspiring ladies to achieve success. “Believing in oneself is vital. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else would either. If I look back at my journey so far, the starting point has been to believe in myself and to live up to the promises made by striving to over deliver. Another important thing to remember is that one should never compare oneself to another. Everyone is unique and our paths in life is different. Hence, it’s important to choose what best suits you rather than choosing what others think best for you. Some youngsters strive for perfection and feel dejected or demotivated when they cannot achieve perfection. Voltaire, a French writer once said, “Perfection is the enemy of good”, so if you are not perfect that is fine. Enhance your strength & work on your weaknesses that will make you good enough to take up the challenges. Also one should not fear the failures as failures allow you to learn from your mistakes and allows you to stand stronger than before” explains Chamila.
Chamila Cooray is the General Manager – Operations, WNS Global Services (Pvt) Ltd, and has a career, spanning over 20 plus years in the entire spectrum of Finance and Accounting in diverse industries holding senior positions. She is also a Non-Executive Director, State Mortgage & Investment Bank. She is a fellow member of CA Sri Lanka, CIMA (UK), CMA Sri Lanka, CPM Sri Lanka and AAT Sri Lanka. She is a full member of CPA Australia and holds a 1st Class Hon degree in BSc (Accountancy) Special, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and MBA from University of Colombo. Chamila is actively involved with many professional bodies and she passionately involves herself to train, mentor, self-develop young professionals.
Over the years we have spoken about gender disparity and the challenges faced by women leaders. Chamila believes in 2021 although there is an increase in the quantum of employment, it’s not a fair representation of the women in employment in every level. Chamila elaborates “There is a huge gap of women representation at the leadership roles. Further, the gender pay gap is still not been fairly addressed. Racism and ethnicity of women remain a barrier, especially when it comes to leadership roles. Further there are still concerns on respecting diversity and inclusion in the workplace although many organizations are now making the effort to change.”
“As a society, women are prevented from contributing to the labour force due to inequality and inadequate facilities for education and there is so much more we have to do to ensure we elevate them. Women even today continue to struggle due to sexual harassment and domestic violence etc. So yes, we have progressed but there is so much more we need to & can do” added Chamila.
Chamila spoke of the multi-faceted roles played by a woman, “The countless roles that a woman plays is remarkable and the expectations of her responsibilities as an employee, housewife, mother, sister or a daughter has not changed. During the pandemic, even if there had been certain flexibility, working from home has been challenging for most women. Working from home for a woman is a different experience. They must manage multitude of responsibilities while working from home, since the spouse, kids, parents, would continue to depend on her on the day to day routine work at home. From the feedback I have received from many women I have spoken to, it is leading to lot of mental pressure and they opt to neglect their personal wellbeing both physical and mental. This is alarming”.
Chamila shared some thoughts on how women can overcome the challenges stemming due the COVID-19 Pandemic, “While there may be many ways and forms to face the challenges, I will confine it to 3 R’s, Respect, Request & Reskill. “Respect” yourself first, value your personal wellbeing and saying “No” is fine when its required. Do not hold things to yourself, do not let your ego wins over you “Request” for help when needed. Of course, consciously plan on “Reskilling” yourself since new norms require new competencies.”
Chamila has been a career woman for over 20 years and has held strategic leadership roles across many organizations. Chamila reminiscing on her journey so far says “You must choose a career that you are passionate about and build your competencies to progress on the chosen path. Each day challenge yourself to become better. This is what has supported me. Do not allow other’s opinion about your career disturb your route”.
She concluded the interview with this strong message, “If you expect equality or more, then you need to be prepared to play in an equal level playing field, regardless of what the circumstance may be. ‘Don’t come to the battlefield if you feel the sword is too heavy for a woman to hold.”
The views expressed in this interview is in her personal capacity.
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Interviewed and compiled by Rifka Ziyard MBA, FCMA, CGMA, FTII, B Com
Rifka is the Director – Tax and Regulatory at KPMG.
