“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things” (Peter F. Drucker). This is a famous quote about leadership that myself and one of my interviewees agree on. I chose to interview two leaders about their role in leadership and their opinions of gender in the workplace. The two people I chose to interview are very genuine individuals who have been leaders in their work for years. The first one is David Lanzon. He currently owns several local small businesses around Metro Detroit and the Maumee Ohio area, leading hundreds of employees. I know him from when I worked at one particular location that he owns. He has been involved in business his whole life, since he was an early teenager, and has thus excelled tremendously. The second interviewee is Virginia Milliken. She started up and helped her husband, Pat, run a car dealership in Redford, Michigan for over 50 years. Virginia’s husband Pat Milliken is the uncle of my mother. Both people have ambitious leadership skills so there is so much to learn from them about the workplace.
During the interview ...
I began the Interview with the questions focusing on various aspects of leadership. Regina believes, and feels quite strongly that leadership is the key to any organizations survival. Regina goes on to outline the qualities in which she believes make a well defined and effective leader. A leader must embrace and encourage change. First she makes a ...
The reading assignment for this unit included reading several articles and one book in particular, The Female Advantage, by Sally Helgesen as an introduction into varying leadership styles. Leadership, as a honed craft is practiced continually in different ways and varying circumstances, no two individuals will have the same leadership style. Certain distinctive traits brought into the forum and on display for followers to observe. Some traits can be visible, clothing or skin color as examples, others, however, are not as visible such as upbringing or family situation. Each of these factors could play a role in the leadership style of a leader. One trait that the author of the book uses to distinguish leaders is gender. As much as men and women must be treated the fairly and equally, it cannot be denied that outside of the biological aspect, men and women are slightly different. Each gender brings a unique approach to leadership situations.
...tional obstacles to those faced by male counterparts. One common predicament, identified by the former Equal Opportunities Commission, is the requirement for women leaders to spend extra time and energy not just leading, but ‘proving’ that they can lead. Women leaders are penalized whether they confirm, or contradict a specific stereotype. A female leader can expect to be viewed as less competent when her behaviour is consistent with stereotypical ‘feminine’ behaviour, and as ‘un-feminine’, when her behaviour is inconsistent with stereotypes Ritvo et al (1995).
Powell, G., Butterfield, D., and Bartol, K. (2008). Leader evaluations: A new female advantage? Gender in Management: An International Journal, 23, 156-174.
Walker, Henry A., Barbara C. Ilardi, Anne M. McMahon, and Mary L. Fennell. "Gender, Interaction, and Leadership." Social Psychology Quarterly. V59 n3 p255, 1996.
I chose to interview Regina Geis, who holds the administrative role as acting supervisor for the County Mental Health adult day program, which provides services for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Ms. Geis has held this position for 15 months. This is her first managerial position within a human service agency. Her style of management has changed over this short period of time. She feels that she is now more direct with her direction with staff. She stated, “Maybe now I come across as a little bit cold. But I have learned that I now have to use the least amount of words to get my point across.”
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
In organizations aspiring for growth and continual improvement, relationships are more intricate and alternatives more numerous than the either/or imposition implied by the notion of leaders and followers. Practically no one leads all of the time. Leaders also work as followers; all in all, “everyone uses a portion of their day following and another portion leading” (Galie and Bopst, 2006, p. 11).
To inspire and influence others, a leader must possess many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Peter Northouse, states, “a leader should be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant” (Northouse, 2013) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
Interest in the impact of gender on leadership is relatively new. The first studies were conducted in the US in the early 1970s when male managers at nine insurance companies were asked to characterise ‘women in general’, ‘men in general’ and ‘successful managers’. Successful managers were overwhelmingly identified exclusively with male traits. Many similar studies have been carried out since that time and all have demonstrated that the successful managerial stereotype remains male.
The role of leadership can impact an organization performance in many ways. Excellent leadership can propel a company to the fortune five hundred list. For Example, Harpo Incorporated Oprah Winfrey’s company is a successful business that has made billions of dollars over the years. The business consists of several different entities such as the Oprah Show, Oprah Winfrey Network, and The Dr. Phil Show to name a few. This could not have been accomplished with a weak or uneducated leader. Many years ago I heard her give advice to the Williams Sisters. The a...
The article begins with a subject that many women are already familiar with- the “delicate balance” required to hold a leadership position. Experts have shown that being too aggressive can lead to negative consequences while being too “feminine” causes the individual to be seen as weak. This concept is known as the “double blind.” This leadership dilemma, according to the article, is due to the lack of female leaders to be observed; this causes male leadership styles to be observed and adopted by women. After identifying this obstacle, The Wall Street Journal discusses an essential strategy to overcome these struggles; finding a mentor. Since leadership is largely learned through experience, finding a successful female role model to learn from has been proven to be highly beneficial. Whether it is within the workplace, or through a community of leaders; women can freely receive feedback of their efforts without being portrayed as weak. With this opportunity, upcoming leaders can become more comfortable in the workplace and find their balance of an assertive, yet feminine, leadership
This is not about being nasty or nice – it is entirely about being achievement oriented by focusing on performance and organizational goals. Being achievement oriented, leaders have to recognize that they have to be mindful of and accountable for the choices they make because they are setting the model of what’s appropriate and inappropriate. Words matter, they are as much a form of expression for leaders as they are to poets, singers, and writers. According to Posner and Kouzes(p. 59) to be a leader, you got to awaken to the fact that you don’t have to copy someone else or follow a script and you don’t have to wear someone else’s style. Currently, there are an increasing number of women who are in leadership roles in the workplaces. It is a generally accepted as true that woman are supposed to use feminine ways of doing leadership. However, this is not always true. In some cases, women also use masculine ways of leadership. In this paper, Miranda Priestly illustrates how a female leader breaks traditional gender stereotypes and uses masculine leadership style.
When we think about how it used to be 100 years ago, the only people in leadership roles where men, and there was no presence of women. Why is it that we tend to see more men in leadership positions? Usually when we think of what a leader looks like, we tend to describe them as powerful, assertive and confidence. Because of stereotypes our society immediately labels this person as a man, due to the roles that we are expected to follow. Today, there has been a huge shift for women in leadership positions; however, there are many challenges that they still have to overcome. A process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal (Northouse, 2007) defines a leader. Moreover, leaders come in different forms whether in a professional, educational, or group setting. As a male college student and an advocate for equal rights between men and women, my understanding of the struggles that women face has a huge impact on my philosophy of leadership. The three most important concepts in this course that has resonated with me the most are double bind, and think manager-think male and glass ceiling.
Researches that support no gender differences in leadership skills, says female and male leaders lack internal validity as they are often over-reliant on narrative reviews or case studies (Bartol & Martin, 1986; Bass, 1981, 1990). Kanter (1977) argues that men nor women are different in the way they lead, instead adapts his/her leadership style to their situation and conforms to what is expected of them in the role given, ignoring their gender’s influence on their leadership style. However, researchers agree that gender differences in leadership styles do exist and that men often use a more task-oriented approach, while women, on average, rely on leadership style heavily based on quality of interpersonal relationships (Eagly & Johnson, 1990; Gray, 1992; Eagly, 1987; Eagly & Karau, 2002). Female leaders have also been described as taking a more “take care” leadership approach compared to the males’ “take charge” approach (Martell & DeSmet, 2001; Yukl, 1994; Hater & Bass, 1998). Researchers have also found that women tend to emerge as more transformational leaders while men are likely to use a transitional leadership approach (Bass & Avolio, 1994; Rosener,