Society has often told us that a leader should act a certain way dependent on their gender. That a good male leader should be strong and unemotional. On the other hand, a female leader should be caring, and not overly assertive. But are these stereotypes actually based on anything substantive? Does adhering to those gender norms create better leaders? What does it take to practice effective leadership?
Research from Skyline, a company dedicated to providing scalable leadership development and coaching across an organization, has found that people actually find both masculine and feminine expressions of leadership effective. One way is not better than the other, but there does need to be balance. As their infographic below shows, to become the best leader possible, current and future leaders need to learn to embrace both male and female strategies.
- It’s becoming more common for women to be business leaders.
- 31% of people consider women in top positions in business to be more honest and ethical than men. Just 3% said the opposite.
- 98 million operate established businesses worldwide.
- Female bosses outscored males in 11 of 12 engagement categories.
Despite this, females are still lacking confidence. In countries around the world, including the USA, men had higher levels of self-esteem than women did.
Leave A Comment