Are Women Better Leaders than Men?

10:14 AM Thursday March 15, 2012 - by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman 

We've all heard the claims, the theories, and the speculation about the ways leadership styles vary between women and men. Our latest survey data puts some hard numbers into the mix.

Our data come from 360 evaluations, so what they are tracking is the judgment of a leader's peers, bosses, and direct reports. We ask these individuals to rate each leader's effectiveness overall and also to judge how strong he or she is on the 16 competencies that our 30 years of research shows are most important to overall leadership effectiveness. We ask, for instance, how good a leader is at taking the initiative, developing others, inspiring and motivating, and pursuing their own development.

Our latest survey of 7,280 leaders, which our organization evaluated in 2011, confirms some seemingly eternal truths about men and women leaders in the workplace but also holds some surprises. Our dataset was generated from leaders in some of the most successful and progressive organizations in the world both public and private, government and commercial, domestic and international.

In the confirmation category is our first finding: The majority of leaders (64%) are still men. And the higher the level, the more men there are: In this group, 78% of top managers were men, 67% at the next level down (that is, senior executives reporting directly to the top managers), 60% at the manager level below that.

Similarly, most stereotypes would have us believe that female leaders excel at "nurturing" competencies such as developing others and building relationships, and many might put exhibiting integrity and engaging in self-development in that category as well. And in all four cases our data concurred — women did score higher than men.

But the women's advantages were not at all confined to traditionally women's strengths. In fact at every level, more women were rated by their peers, their bosses, their direct reports, and their other associates as better overall leaders than their male counterparts — and the higher the level, the wider that gap grows (see chart; click on the image to view a larger chart):

Specifically, at all levels, women are rated higher in fully 12 of the 16 competencies that go into outstanding leadership. And two of the traits where women outscored men to the highest degree — taking initiative and driving for results — have long been thought of as particularly male strengths. As it happened, men outscored women significantly on only one management competence in this survey — the ability to develop a strategic perspective (see chart; click on the image to view a larger chart). 

So what should we conclude from these data? Why are we not engaging and fully employing these exemplary women leaders? Yes, blatant discrimination is a potential explanation. If not actual than certainly perceptual. When we shared our findings with a group of women outside this particuar survey and asked them to suggest why they thought their colleagues had been rated so highly on taking initiative and self-development, their answers pointed to the still-tenuous position they feel themselves to be in the workplace:

"We need to work harder than men to prove ourselves."

"We feel the constant pressure to never make a mistake, and to continually prove our value to the organization."

That is, anecdotally, at least, the women we queried don't feel their appointments are safe. They're afraid to rest on their laurels. Feeling the need (often keenly) to take initiative, they are more highly motivated to take feedback to heart.

The irony is that these are fundamental behaviors that drive the success of every leader, whether woman or man.

Why are women viewed as less strategic? This is an easier question to answer.Top leaders always score significantly higher in this competency; since more top leaders are men, men still score higher here in the aggregate. But when we measure only men and women in top management on strategic perspective, their relative scores are the same.

What should leaders and managers do with these findings? Here are our thoughts. Feel free to respond as well with your own.

• As leaders in organizations look hard to find the talent they need to achieve exceptional results, they ought to be aware that many women have impressive leadership skills. Our research shows these leadership skills are strongly correlated to organizational success factors such as retaining talent, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and profitability.

• As to the constant state of unease we hear women leaders express — clearly, chauvinism or discrimination is an enigma that organizations (and the business culture) should work hard to prevent. However, that said, think of the benefits every leader in every organization would gain from a mind-set that they simply can't afford to make a mistake. Paranoia or extreme risk aversion is clearly detrimental to a rising career. But in today's economic climate, every leader, male or female, would do well to avoid becoming complacent.

-----------------

Twitter - Facebook

Los 12 activos que aportan las mujeres en los negocios

Si creemos que es bueno para la sociedad que haya más mujeres en puestos directivos y emprendedoras, tenemos que ser nosotras mismas las que “seamos lo que queremos que el mundo sea”

Inspirada por un post que leí de Shannon Reece, http://ow.ly/7iZuJ, me decidí a preguntar en Twitter: ¿Cuáles son los mejores activos que aportan las mujeres a las empresas?

He resumido aquí 12 características fundamentales que aportan las mujeres a las empresas donde trabajan:

1. Son “multitareas y prácticas”. Tienen visión en 3D y rapidez en la resolución de problemas.

2. Son colaboradoras y trabajan bien en equipo y no suelen tener actitudes dominantes.

3. Tienen intuición, instinto, visión y creatividad.

4. Son constructoras de relaciones con los clientes. Tienen la habilidad innata de hacer sentir bien a los clientes y ganar su confianza.

5. Son empáticas y asertivas a las emociones. Saben ponerse en el sitio del otro.

6. Transmiten gran energía, ilusión y pasión en el trabajo.

7. Son firmes y resistentes. Toman decisiones y las mantienen con amabilidad.

8. Son equilibradas acostumbradas a llevar varias responsabilidades a la vez, necesitan tener mucho equilibrio para poder llegar a todo.

9. Son generosas con la información, con su tiempo y sus recursos. Les cuesta menos compartir. Por eso son muy buenas en redes sociales.

10. Son comprometidas, autoexigentes y detallistas.

11. Ponen cabeza, sensatez y sentido común.

12. Son perseverantes, constantes y organizadas.

Según el Estudio realizado por Womenalia sobre las mujeres profesionales en el siglo XXI, el 80% del poder de decisión de compra lo tiene, en nuestra sociedad, la mujer.

Con todas estas características y aptitudes, sumadas a la gran formación adquirida, ¿por qué no contratamos a más mujeres para cargos de responsabilidad o de dirección en las empresas?

-----------------

Twitter - Facebook

Developing Women Leaders: Five factors that matter

Lucy P. Marcus

There are five universal factors that, no matter where people are, where they are from, or what sector they are in, make a real difference in encouraging young women to reach success.

Though they are prone to credit luck for their success, it is mostly hard work and perseverance that brings women to the top of their field, be they artists, scientists, entrepreneurs or academics. These are the women who never settle for the mediocre, are perpetually restless and striving, and who know that real success can only be found by crossing time zones, cultures, and cruising through stop signs.

The most successful women in the world have grabbed every opportunity afforded to them, and have created opportunities for themselves, harnessing their fears and doubts as rocket fuel instead of rocks in their pockets.

The factors that contribute to the development of the next generation of women leaders can be gleaned from their experiences.

Some of the characteristics of successful people, such as motivation, natural curiosity, courage, self-management, enjoying being stretched and rising to a challenge, personal will and fortitude, drive, and flexibility may be innate, but there is no doubt that these characteristics also need to be nurtured and encouraged.

Five factors stand out that help to support developing women leaders. Not particularly costly or demanding, they have proven to be very effective.

1. Basic Skills

There are certain basic skills that everyone should be given access to beyond the standard education. We need to ensure that young women have access to building these skills that help them move to success early in their careers. These include public speaking, writing, negotiation, and effective networking. People might have nature skills in some of these areas, but if not, then seeking out courses and opportunities to practice these skills is worthwhile. Also, some employers will give women access to courses in these areas through career development opportunities, but that can often be in their mid-career, and it is actually more valuable and impactful if it started earlier on. If these are not forthcoming from work, they are worth seeking out independently.

2. International Exposure

Travel brings an invaluable exposure to other cultures and ways of thinking. It is essential for advancement in any profession, even in those that seem local, cloistered, or sheltered. This is particularly the case as the world becomes increasingly globally interdependent and actions that occur in a place that seems far away, inevitably affect, directly or indirectly, everyone. International experiences challenge thinking and certainty in a way that can be very healthy. The skills that come from living and working in unfamiliar settings are valuable in themselves, and so are the experiences that can be gleaned from seeing how other cultures deal with issues. It forces people to think outside the box and challenge them to find, and apply, solutions beyond their comfort zones.

3. Mentoring

Mentoring plays a big role in developing any career. It is important, though, to distinguish what kinds of efforts are most useful at different stages of career development. At different points in a person’s career, they need different types of mentoring. The needs for mentoring change from student years, to the first years out of school, to mid-career, to the most senior career positions.

• Student Years
  During student years, meeting, shadowing, personal exposure to senior figures in the field all help to inspire young women to aspire to something greater. It helps to be able to see what success looks like in any given field, and to get a sense of accessibility. Seeing the fruits of hard work and hearing the stories of career paths – more often than not, anything but linear ones – can help inspire young women. Access to as many people as possible, in as many fields as possible, helps to open up the vast horizons of opportunity that are available. It can spark the imagination of young people about where their paths can take them. University alumnae networks are useful – and alumnae returning to speak openly about their experiences can make a real difference by making success accessible.

• First-Third Jobs
  The early period in a person’s career is a time of exploration, of further learning, and of discovering career options, preferences, and interests. During this period, it is most useful to have exposure to a wide array of people in a chosen profession and perhaps to create a group of “go-to” people where a young woman can seek advice and ideas and begin to hone her ideas on her true career path. These mentors can be found many places – speakers who inspire, professionals who are admired, colleagues and managers who they know well. People are often receptive and flattered by emails – it never hurts to try.

• Mid-Career
  It is helpful to have networks as a means of meeting people in their field and getting to know like-minded and like-skilled people. Equally, if not more important for individual development, is having one or two people who know the individual well and can help to council them directly and specifically about options, choices and direction and concrete ways of achieving goals. This can be a vitally effective means of creating clear paths for career development.

• Career Success
  The years when women are at the top of their careers are a time of consolidation, solidification and fulfilment. It is a time when women can stretch themselves or get greater depth in areas of interest – for example, in business that can be directorships, in politics it can be senior policy making or influencing positions. Mentoring one another via peer relationships and networks can be very effective and satisfying. Having a close group of trusted friends and peers who can be frank, generous, and root for each other’s success can be the thing that helps bring the goals that seem distant even at this point much more achievable.

4. Role Models

Role models are an extraordinarily fruitful way to inspire women to aspire to great things. Role models can be found close to home or in the people around them, as well as in those at a distance – seen only through the news even in faraway places.

There are two kinds of role models: first, those who help us to think about the kind of people we want to be through examples of kindness, fortitude, courage, bravery, integrity, and other admirable characteristics, displayed equally by women and men, in their everyday lives and in the way they conduct themselves in the workplace. Second, there are those who help us to aspire to roles that perhaps we’ve not thought of before or not encountered personally, particularly for young women – heads of state, heads of multinational corporations, leaders in political, cultural, or social movements. Seeing women in particular, anywhere in the world, succeeding in an ever widening array of roles helps inspire young women to broaden their expectation for their own possibilities.

It is vital to openly and publicly acknowledge and celebrate the work that women leaders do around the world. It is important to recognize the critical roles that women have played in developing societies and economies. By highlighting this work, it begins to help countries, societies, and companies realize that this is not unusual, but rather that it should be the norm. It also helps to bring to light the ways in which these women have made the journey to their positions and make that journey more accessible.

5. Start Early

We need to start early to make sure girls know they are capable of reaching great heights. It starts in the youngest years of their schooling with words of encouragement and aspiration. Equally important is ensuring that boys and young men absorb these messages both openly and through example. Even the most closed societies and cultures have the ability to make shifts over the generations and if we begin to change the mindsets of girls and boys alike.

Creating an environment where women can succeed is vital. Public policy that encourages women to be successful, workplaces that reward for encouraging and advancing women, education systems that educate women to the highest standards are just some of the things that are needed to help create an environment in which women are prepared and encouraged to rise to leadership.

Never settling, always being driven, and always seeking new experiences – these are the hallmarks of the most senior women, and indeed the most senior men, in the world. We must all play a part in helping them succeed, as our countries, economies, and futures depend on their success.

Lucy P. Marcus is the non-executive chair of the Mobius Life Sciences Fund, non-executive director and chair of the board audit committee of BioCity Nottingham, CEO of Marcus Venture Consulting, chair of The Global Task Force on Building Women Leaders and a Fellow at University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School. She can be found on Twitter via @lucymarcus

This article is drawn in part from the keynote address Lucy gave Inspiring Younger Women to take Leadership Roles at the 2010 Global Women’s Leadership Conference in Seoul, Korea.

This article also appeared in The Huffington Post.

Related articles & Information

• Beyond Optics: Why Board Diversity Really Matters
• The Times: Who is your most inspirational female role model?
• The Role of Non-executive Board Directors Today
• TEDxNewSt: The changing role of the non-executive board director in today’s world
• Changing the Landscape of Corporate Governance: Twitter, the Board Directors’ Resource
• Compliance Week: Activism in the Boardroom Podcast

-----------------

Twitter - Facebook

me gusta ser mujer. Me pareció interesante. Que estés bien.