Mumbai, Nov 19 (IANS): Nikki Haley, governor of South Carolina in the US, will take part in an interactive session on "Women In Leadership" here Thursday, along with Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde, an official said Wednesday.

The session has been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Women Network, a special CII initiative to promote the cause of women.

Both Haley and Munde will share their perspectives on women as natural leaders, why they should be included in leadership positions, transformative global trends, inclusive leadership and women empowerment for taking the next step.

An official said that CII believes women are natural leaders, they are breaking barriers and glass ceilings, but challenges remain.

"There are still extremely few women CEOs and female participation in the top of the jobs pyramid. The lack of women at the top in business is now referred to as a 'brain drain', and a 'crisis of talent retention', especially since women are catalysts of change," the official said.

Globally, organisations are facing huge challenges due to dearth of women in leadership positions, not just in board rooms, but also in terms of not being able to focus much on developing talented young women professionals into future leadership roles.

Research and studies around the world widely indicate that the presence of more women in the organisation leads to a significant, positive impact on both corporations and non-profit organisations, by virtue of broadening market vision, enhancing board dynamics, inspiring female stockholders, and improving corporate reputation.

However, things are changing for the better and all across, and there is an unprecedented role reversal currently underway between the sexes with its vast cultural and societal implications.

Now, more businesses are realizing the potential of workplace flexibility to harness women talent, a valuable talent management and retention tool which allows the women employees to manage their family lives and also enable workers focus on education while working, the official said.

The CII Western Region has launched a special initiative for women in the corporate and business arena to bring together women throughout their careers, to empower them, engage with them and enable them achieve their best capabilities through training, mentoring and creating an associative model for other women to benefit.

Besides Haley and Munde, the other speakers include R. Mukundan, Mini Menon, chairperson CII-IWN (WR), Rajkamal Vempati, Mrityunjay Kapur and others.