The ‘Flaws’ with Women in Leadership

Endorse your views Doug! And you have articulated them very well.
Replies (0)

Leadership is a part of the human being. I believe Leadership come from passion. If you are working - or have a cause - you're passionate about, leadership will come. Leadership exhibits itself in many forms - by example - by enthusiasm (action) - by addressing (public speaking). It is NOT gender-based. I've known some bosses who are totally inadequate leaders, yet they think they're wonderful leaders. However, if you're not open to new suggestions, critiques, challenges, etc. you're not going to grow. And you have to have good self-esteem to undergo these opportunities. Growth in the individual is an important part of Leadership. Pay attention to those around you and learn from others.
Replies (0)

refreshing....and I love the endorsement of authenticity.
Replies (0)

Your article is right on and it’s refreshing to know these topics are being discussed with young woman as they enter the workforce. Any successful female executive knows that leadership is a genderless skill. Women are often also gifted with intuition and nurturing skills honed at home that turn into a very useful tool as a leader and a manager in the office. Sadly, many young women are fearful of exposing those vulnerabilities and compensate by shielding themselves with cold façade. My advice: embrace and use your gift – the world’s best leaders have a genuine human side. Others will follow.
Replies (0)

THanks Doug, just yesterday I was speaking to a group of leaders about building a respectful worikplace culture and delivering a synergistic message, it is about knowing who you are from a values perspective and having the courage to be who your are as a leader aligned with your values. To respect "diversity" means to encourage individuality and creativity. A big issue for women in leadership is the mixed messages women get about manifesting power, for me the frame is always abou how to manifest power respectfully, which requires relationship based leadership, and it is hard to have relationship without autheticity.
Replies (0)

Love the focus on environment - spot on. Have always emphasized what I call the "care factor" and it takes a lot of 'i give a care' to be a great leader in an organization (or spouse in a marriage, to use your superb analogy). Thanks for influencing and moving our mindset on this forward!
Replies (0)

Very thoughtful, indeed. I believe everyone, women and men, bring their capabilities to a system. This is not to generalize things but as pointed out earlier, women have always been associated with a nurturing tendency and men with their streak to take everything in their stride to get a task done. However, with the growth and development of societies, there has been a gradual shift in personalities and the stereotypes are constantly changing. Having said all this, a soft and caring woman or man can be a great leader, depending upon the situation. Similarly, leadership in times of time crunch would seek a person who would get things rolling, and whether its a man or woman doing that, is irrelevant!
Replies (0)

I completely agree with Doug. Leaders believe in what they are doing and are passionate about their work. There is nothing different for women ! Leadership is not about level and position but also about your ability to influence. Really appreciate your insightful comment on leadership at large !! Thanks
Replies (0)

Great analogy on Leadership = Marriage and Management = Dating. Beautifully explained and certainly a great way to motivate people to become effective leaders regardless of gender. I really enjoyed your fresh ideas. Thank you, Doug!
Replies (0)

Great discussion. It is not PC to stereotype and generalize about gender or race, and for every stereotype there are plenty of exceptions. But I think the literature is compelling that there are biological and/or social reasons that account for women, in general, being more personal, emotional and nuturing, and men, in general, being less so. To me the goal of a leader should be about becoming a more "whole" leader. Left-brain automatons, whatever their gender, should develop at least some appreciation for and ability to interact in a more humane and emotional way. The inverse is also true. The best managers know how to adapt their styles to the variety of colleagues they encounter. A part of adapting and adopting new practices is a rigorous and vigorous pursuit of self-awareness. We are all capable of being much more than our hard-wiring and predispositions. But it is not easy or comfortable work.
Replies (0)

Doug thank you for an answer to the "non-existant" question of "what women or any minority should bring to the table"! Leadership is everything you have. It is or it itsn't. You made it quite clear with your statement "Leaders who present themselves all the time in full context of who they are, will never have a moment of revealing those previously unknown "flaws". Great Article......
Replies (0)

Doug Thanks so much for the article - I thoroughly enjoyed it and agree that the key is being honest with yourself and having integrity. While I believe what you have written to be true; there is also a part of me that must acknowledge women are in fact viewed differently as leaders and we still have a ways to go in the male dominated business world. If you look at the wage levels of female executives, they are still less than that of men...It would certainly be wonderful if there were more who thought like you do!
Replies (0)

While I agree that authenticity is the number one trait of great leaders this article "rounds up the usual suspects" when it comes to inherent gender differences. It also fails to speak to the need for change and teh work involved in compensating for our weaknesses whether those weaknesses are at heart intellectual, emotional or gender tendencies. In my experience women do tend, for example, to take business issues too personally on average and have more difficulty than men with the idea that its "just business." Coaching such a woman to be a bit more detached from her emotions does not mean compromising her integrity as either a woman or a female leader. On the other hand men often compartmentalize too much and end up insensitive to people issues. Has all the work that has been done over the last 50 years to address this imbalance been ill founded and wasted? Does this article mean to imply that working on biases is anathemetic to authenticity? I've known more than a few authentic jerks in business.
Replies (0)

While I agree that authenticity is the number one trait of great leaders this article "rounds up the usual suspects" when it comes to inherent gender differences. It also fails to speak to the need for change and teh work involved in compensating for our weaknesses whether those weaknesses are at heart intellectual, emotional or gender tendencies. In my experience women do tend, for example, to take business issues too personally on average and have more difficulty than men with the idea that its "just business." Coaching such a woman to be a bit more detached from her emotions does not mean compromising her integrity as either a woman or a female leader. On the other hand men often compartmentalize too much and end up insensitive to people issues. Has all the work that has been done over the last 50 years to address this imbalance been ill founded and wasted? Does this article mean to imply that working on biases is anathemetic to authenticity? I've known more than a few authentic jerks in business.
Replies (0)

Hard to argue with the noble sentiments of this article but there is a large and growing literature claiming that women could be better leaders than men because of their relationship building and nurturing skills. So, I think we need to address the question of what it takes to be a leader. In business, as opposed to the public sector, there is a need for competitiveness. In fact, it can be argued that business culture is very male oriented because it is so competitive. Thus, it seems to me, executives need to have a mix of male competitiveness and female relationship building skills. The article here seems to me to miss out or skip over these issues.
Replies (0)

Bravo! and Cudos! to you, Doug. You are absolutely correct in sharing with those young ladies that it matters not what type of personality you possess, but which job or industry best suits your personality. So many young people seek "position" to attain status or high remuneration, and in the process they are miserable at what they do, and eventually move from job to job. My philosophy all along has been to enjoy what I do every day. If I don't, I am the sole reason for that failure. Thank you for a fresh, and respectful point of view!
Replies (0)