In my recent article, “More women, more success” below I focused on the relative lack of women in senior leadership roles and the strategic benefits for organisations of having more.
Amongst studies I quoted one from McKinsey that suggested having women on boards made organisations 27% more likely to beat competitors. I also confirmed my personal experience that after over 30 years as a leader in the military, business, and government, most of it developing leaders, the capability of women to be effective leaders is just a great as men. In fact, in this article, I will go further and say it is, on average, better.
Why are women more able to lead in a way which delivers what organisations need to be successful in 2019? It’s now clear to most people, but sadly not all, leaders that the traditional command and control style of leadership is no longer effective in organisations. In fact, there is incontrovertible evidence that it actually degrades performance leading to numerous problems from lack of engagement to ineffective decision making, poor innovation, low responsiveness to customers to poor development and retention of talent amongst other problems.
The nature of effective leadership in our organisations is organically changing in line with wider societal changes and so a more consensual and engaging approach by leaders now delivers the best results.
It could be summed up in a few words by saying people give their best to leaders who show they care about those people, not those who don’t care. That’s simply common sense based on all our experiences but too often ignored in our organisations. Women often seem to be better at creating this “I care” environment than men.
There are many studies but one of the most interesting, by Zenger Folkman, (See full study) was initially conducted in 2011/12 and then updated this year. So not only was the original study good, with significant sample size, of value but the fact that the findings were confirmed again in 2019 and thus up to date makes it even more powerful. The 2011/12 study was based on a 360 assessment of over 7000 senior leaders effectiveness, ie by peers, bosses and team members, based on 16 behaviours shown to deliver outstanding leadership. It compared these between women and men. As I suggested previously women do score better than men in those areas that related to creating good relationships and engaging and developing others. However, what is really interesting is that’s not all. Women are rated as, on average, better than men in 12 of those 16 behaviours which deliver outstanding leadership. Even more interesting is that on “taking initiative” and “driving results”, often thought of as where and area of male strength women outperform men. To return to the bigger picture for a moment please note that these behaviours which follow are what we want all leaders to do irrespective of gender.
As a group women, on average, outperform men in the following :
- Takes initiative
- Practices self-development
- Drive for results
- Displays high integrity and honesty
- Develops others
- Inspires & motivates others
- Builds relationships
- Champions change
- Establishes stretch goals
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Connects to the outside world
- Communicates powerfully and prolifically
- Solves problems and analyses issues
- Innovates
- Women and men are about the same in “technical or professional expertise”
Men outperform women in “developing strategic perspective”.
The update to the study this year, with and additional 9000 leaders assessed, confirmed the 2012 findings. However, they added 3 more areas of assessment, “resilience”, “bold leadership” and “leadership speed”. In resilience, women were ahead of men by 6 points, bold leadership by 3 and about the same on leadership speed.
So why aren’t more women in senior positions? It’s certainly not that they perform worse than men, as the evidence shows they are often actually better. It has to be that the recruitment and assessment techniques we use are either biased, ineffective or both. Probably based on the false myths prevalent in our organisations about this issue. We need to work on facts, not fiction and change how we recruit and asses to unleash the true potential of women in our organisations and societies.
As for men, all is not lost! The above also shows your route to success. Forget the command and control, the stereotypical image of the over competitive successful man, building a “me not we” world, that’s long gone. Yes focus on performance but also build a “we, not me” world and above all show you care. That’s the way any leader, male or female, will get the best from their people and overall as a group women are ahead of the game! But not all the time over their careers – sometimes men are more effective but when and why is for the next article.
Wow… these findings are fascinating! I would like to think that companies are more focused on creating caring environments lead by leaders who care than diversifying the gender pool. Like Carol, I struggle with success being attributed to gender rather than a blend of intelligence, emotional intelligence, collaborative skills, and inclusive leadership skills. These studies open the door for more women in positions of leadership. But there are many factors that determine a healthy culture beyond the number of women in the C-suite. I love how you addressed the stereotype swing. “…the route to good leadership is in understanding how to get the best from people by being able to get the best from people then apply that to what delivers success.
I couldn’t agree more. it’s about creating the environment that engages people to be the best they can be. Thanks for sharing this one.
Melissa, thanks. At its most basic its about the psychology / neuroscience of what makes people give their best. You are right showing you genuinely care produces a fairly hard wired positive response in most people. Thats what then makes them respond positively and give their best. Women more naturally show they care but as you say anyone , male or female, can do it. There are simple day to day actions any leader can take to show you care. How about asking how people are and listening to them as a start ! Chris
Chris, Great article! I believe that as a leader you get what you give, especially when leading by example. Mothers often lead by example an I am pleased to see this leadership evolving in the workplace. Sharing.
Kat, my view is that the route to good leadership is in understanding how to get the best from people by being able to get the best from people then apply tht to what delivers success.In terms of getting the best showing other people you are triggers hard wired sub conscious responses which make them positively reciprocate. Thats applied through history its just that its only now we understand that with psycology and neuroscience. Chris
Carol, I think there have historically been stereotypes of how people think successful leaders need to behave, and whilst these might be accurate in one place and time they can be out of date or inappropriate in another situation and time, especially many years later. Sadly these stereotypes are often retained in organisational mythology for years even when they are long out of date.
As you suggest its not about how men or women lead, its about actions that get the best from people which all leaders need to do. The reason women are often better than men is that they seem to be more naturally attuned to these than men. But if all developing leaders are made aware of what these are then anyone, male or female, has the potential to be an inspiring and effective leader.
Chris
Hi Chris – thank you for the thoughtful article. The case you make is substantial and I agree that the societal movement toward consensus and alignment fits the more caring leader. As a woman with a 40 year career in the military and executive business positions, I worry about the generalization that is happening today with the pendulum swinging from one stereotype to another.
I am happy to see Mary Bara leading and achieving for her organization and I hope the same for Laura Schwab. That said, I struggle with their success being attributed to their gender rather than to their insight and intelligence to do the right thing for the organization at the right time. There are examples of male leaders who bring the same thing to their organizations.
We, as a society, spent a lot of time allowing a stereotype of male leadership to set the bar and make it difficult for anyone else to succeed. Let’s not do that with women. Instead let’s talk about the nature of leadership, and what works in what situation.