Want To Be a Great Leader? Think Like a Woman!
Recent research published by Harvard Business Review reveals that women at every job level are rated by their peers, their managers, their direct reports, and their other co-workers as better overall leaders than their male counterparts. Furthermore, it is women at the highest levels of leadership that outscore their male counterparts the most significantly. In other words, female CEOs, CFOs, and COOs are very noticeably better leaders than male CEOs, CFOs and COOs, according to the people in their company.
The study, conducted by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, measured leadership success based on 16 core competencies that they have honed in on over 30 years of research as the 16 keys to effective leadership. Zenger and Folkman found that at all levels, women are rated higher in a total of 12 out of the 16 essential leadership competencies. And in seven out of 16 competencies female leaders outscored men dramatically (a T value above 7). So in which seven key leadership competencies do women outperform men most noticeably?
- Taking Initiative
- Practicing Self-Development
- Displaying High Integrity and Honesty
- Driving for Results
- Developing Others
- Inspiring and Motivating Others
- Building Relationships
Why do female leaders embody these seven essential leadership traits so much better or more consistently than men? Women themselves speculate that it may be because women are still under more pressure than men to perform and prove their competency as leaders. Men, on the other hand, have always been the corporate leaders. Perhaps they are more comfortable in their role and therefore feel less compelled to respond to feedback and less pressure to create results.
Unfortunately, comfortable leaders are bad leaders. A good leader should always feel accountable to his or her team, and be driven by a desire to keep up with an ever changing economy. While no leader should feel crushing stress to yield results every day, every leader should hang on to the belief that their position is contingent upon their success as a leader. Success as a leader can mean many things, but two things it does not mean is lounging in the corner office with the phone on silent and your feet on the desk for hours at a time, or taking your family on a vacation every other week while your team slogs away for months without a day off (a complaint I hear frequently).
In order to become a better leader all of us must learn to “Think like a woman.” How do we do this? First, we get a little uncomfortable and start to feel the pressure to be a leader for our team. Second, we develop our skill set in all seven competencies that are women are conclusively better at. Over the next few months I will break down each of the seven competencies listed above into clear steps that will help you lead like a woman…. better.
Sara is one of fewer than 300 people in the world to earn her master’s degree in Positive Psychology – the science of individual and organizational thriving. Sara coaches managers and executives to create an environment where employees work at peak productivity. Sara’s approach to management consulting is to help businesses identify and cultivate their current strengths, as well as identifying shifts in management practices that will have the greatest impact on employee engagement and the company’s bottom-line. After identifying the most important areas for growth Sara guides managers and work teams through positive change. Sara’s website is saraoliveri.com.
Photo Credit: flickr/Victor1558