Women in Leadership
Over the course of history, the “face” of leadership has been ever-changing. Some historical cultures followed female leaders, but traditionally leadership traits have been assigned to men. There are many kinds of bias that can affect the perceptions of female leaders, as well as stereotypes that women feel they must fit as leaders. Though modern structures allow for leaders of all genders, women are still underrepresented in leadership roles.
As of March 2017, there are only fifteen women in position as heads of state or national government worldwide (Geiger & Kent). Women are a majority of the electorate in the United States, but hold less than 20 percent of the 535 seats in the United States Congress (Levy, 2017). From
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There is a scarcity of female leaders to act as role models to the younger generation, which can lead to younger generations not feeling confident that leadership is an option. Some leadership ladders can also assume experience or life circumstances that are more easily aligned with the lifestyles of men.
Another issue that crops up under the umbrella of second-generation bias is the lack of access to networking and mentors Networking can be an invaluable resource for prospective leaders, but with so few female leaders it can be difficult for younger women to find leadership mentors. Men in positions of power tend to grant mentorship opportunities to junior men, as it is easier for them to relate.
The double bind is also an issue that women run into on their pathway to leadership. Traditionally, men are considered more dominant and therefore understood to be better leaders, The traditional expectations of women are vastly different. Women are expected to be caretakers—nice, unassuming, and emotional. These expectations run counter to traditional perceptions of what a leader should be. If a woman is true to her “nature,” she is not fit to be a leader, but if she adopts the more “masculine” leadership traits, she loses her femininity (Ibarra, Ely, & Kolb, 2013, pp.
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When women feel that they can interpret feedback in a safe space, such as a support group or leadership program, they may be better able to process their experiences. This support structure is crucial to promoting women leaders, who may not have any female mentors within their leadership ladder with whom to share experiences (Ibarra, Ely, & Kolb, 2013).
The third and final piece to Ibarra, Ely, and Kolb’s leadership puzzle is the importance of leadership purpose. All too often, women in the workplace are judged based on how they are perceived rather than their leadership skills. When women focus on their true purpose in leading instead of concerning themselves with others’ perception of their styles, they become better leaders. The authors on leadership purpose:
Anchoring in purpose enables women to redirect their attention toward shared goals and to consider who they need to be and what they need to learn in order to achieve those goals. Instead of defining themselves in relation to gender stereotypes—whether rejecting stereotypically masculine approaches because they feel inauthentic or rejecting stereotypically feminine ones for fear that they convey incompetence—female leaders can focus on behaving in ways that advance the purposes for which they stand (p.
Keita Powell is a pint-sized powerhouse. She is energetic, result oriented, focused, and driven. Ms. Powell is one of many women in the Mary Kay Cosmetics sales force. She rose through the ranks from Independent Beauty Consultant to Independent Elite Executive Senior Sales Director rather quickly because of her charisma, ability to build a sales team of energetic men and women, and sheer enthusiasm to succeed. One would think that she was an amazing leader to get so many women to follow her in teaching skin care, beauty techniques, increasing and maintaining sells goals and to rise from a very junior consultant to one who is an executive in the business. However, she has made mistakes along the way and continues to feign focus on her sales force and customers but the true focus is on her needs, wants, and desires as well as keeping the use of her free pink Cadillac. This paper will evaluate Ms. Powell's leadership approach through four leadership models discovered through the Unit 3 readings.
In relation to leadership and women, historically women who wanted to seek leadership roles were often seen projecting the traditional masculine model of leadership. This model means to be rational, unemotional and analytic. It also, means in order to succeed traditionally women needed to look and act like a man to be taken seriously in leadership positions. Women in the past often dressed up in suits and ties and anything feminine was seen as an internal “weakness”. To be a leader in power meant to exude confidence in masculinity and shy away from anything remotely girly. As opposed, to the feminine model which casts power as focused on connection and harmony instead of power over something, someone. This power can be skilled through collective gain or physical attractiveness (Kruse 22).
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.
Rosette, A., & Tost, L. (2010). Agentic women and communal leadership: How role prescriptions confer advantage to top women leaders. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(2), 221-235. doi:10.1037/a0018204
This research paper will take a symbolic interactionist perspective to contrast the different leadership prejudices of men and women in the workplace. The age-old debate of inequality for women in executive position will now be examined through online periodicals that show gender stereotypes in the workforce, different strategies men and women use to break the glass ceiling of the workplace, a focus on the interactions and reactions of a male Chief Executive Officer (CEO) versus a female CEO, leadership prejudices among women and women, and various studies regarding leadership of men and women. Because of stereotyping, very little focus is on men within the workplace. However, research shows that male workers face stereotyping as well as women. Therefore, a concentration on this matter will be focused within this paper. The paper concludes that both men and women face stereotypes that hinder, to some extent, their balance of work and family lives. Contrary to some stereotypes, women are proven to have just as powerful executive leadership qualities as men (Hackbarth, 2012).
Leadership is a complex idea that is often is hard to define. Everyone seems to have different characteristics that they feel contribute to a good leader. Even though there is no straightforward definition of leadership, there are still certain personality traits, behaviors, skills, and motivators that people admire in a leader. The best example to show how leaders utilize these characteristics is to examine a prominent figure in pop culture, such as Beyoncé. Her life is transparent enough that we can analyze her leadership skills, and how they change in any given situation. Beyoncé’s impact as a leader will be analyzed in three different categories.
In 2008 the first woman was awarded the position of Speaker of the House, and Hillary Clinton ran for president. While Hillary had widespread support leading people to believe that the two different genders had reached equality, there were several that doubted whether or not a woman has what it takes to be a president. The women that came into power that was generally held by men, needed to perform a balancing act. This balancing act was between the characteristics of women and projecting the masculine strength and leadership needed to hold their position (Jenen 14). This problem in society has been continuing on for a long time. In the 1970’s women had no standing in academia. That women were no use to the department they were studying and
Wilson, Marie C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. Print
Grant, A., & Taylor, A. (2014). Communication essentials for female executives to develop leadership presence: getting beyond the barriers of understating accomplishment. Business Horizons, 7, 73-83. doi: 10.1016/j.busher.2013.09.003
Changes in society have brought issues regarding gender stereotype. Gender roles are shifting in the US. Influences of women’s movement (Firestone, Firestone, & Catlett, 2006) and gender equality movement (e.g., Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)) have contributed to expanding social roles for both genders. Nevertheless, gender stereotypes, thus gender stereotype roles continue to exist in the society (Skelly & Johnson, 2011; Wood & Eagly, 2010). With changes in gender roles, pervasiveness of gender stereotype results in a sense of guilt, resentment, and anger when people are not living up to traditional social expectations (Firestone, Firestone, & Catlett, 2006). Furthermore, people can hold gender stereotype in pre-reflective level that they may
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.
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.
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 styles 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, 1990). The article Women and Leadership (2015 January 14) supports the research that looks at who makes a better leader; the article states that 80% of the public thinks that both male and female can be excellent leaders in society, while 11% said men and 7% said women.
Many people associate leadership with a specific job title or form of power within an organization. However, through personal experience, I have concluded that leadership can come in many forms and position as well as from multiple sources of roles and job titles both with and without power. Based on the definition of leadership, anyone can be considered a leader as long as they have the ability to influence people to achieve a particular result or goal which benefits the organization or group as a whole. Individuals with a secure sense of self and understanding, acceptance of diversity within an organization tend to be the strongest leaders that not only make others want to follow, but they also encourage other leaders to gravitate to their
Women leaders have the crucial soft skills of empathy, innovation, facilitation, and active listening (Masaoka, 2006). They also have first-hand life experiences that bring technical skills and experiences from the street level to the workplace (Masoka, 2006). Women often build stronger relationships with clients and outside contacts than their male counterparts. This relationship building skill, provides a key aspect which helps to move businesses forward (Giber et al., 2009). Fortune 500 companies with a high percentage of women significantly outperformed those with fewer women. Companies with the highest representation of women showed higher returns on equity than those with fewer women employees (Giber et al., 2009). Thus, future organizations may have a higher percentage of female leaders than we have experienced in the past. Future leaders must ensure that there is equality among the workforce and that women are accurately represented among the