Why Women Make Great Leaders

‍By Mary Heideloff, VP, Marketing, Olympic Forest Products Company

Whether driven by nature or nurture, women and men have different leadership styles. Research repeatedly shows that female leaders demonstrate traits including collaboration, nurturing and empathy while male leaders tend to be more decisive, focused and better networkers. The challenge is what to do with these generalizations. Do we embrace them? Challenge them? Try to distill the best of both? Is this labeling reinforcing gender stereotypes we should be fighting to change?

According to studies, there is no biological difference in personality, cognitive and leadership ability between women and men. However social expectations do shape how women adapt in their career paths. Often when women exhibit perceived male leadership traits they are labeled bossy, bitchy and pushy. With males these attributes are often given a positive spin...strong, decisive and ambitious. Over time many women adapt to the negative feedback and adjust their behavior to be more in line with traditional female “acceptable” traits. This seems to support the notion that nurture is overriding nature.

The good news is that women’s leadership traits are well-suited for the increasingly diverse, inclusive and collaborative nature of the business climate of today. The bad news is that this may be translating slowly to increasing opportunities. While women represent 46.8% of the U.S. workforce, men surpass women in leadership roles across every sector – corporate, nonprofit, government, education, medicine, military and religion. A Catalyst report found that in S&P 500 companies, women hold only 21.2% of board seats, five percent of CEO positions and only 26.5% of executive roles. Additionally, the pay gap persists. In 2017, women earned 82% of what men earned in the same position, according to a Pew Research Study.

Like most widespread problems, gender inequality in the workplace can be a daunting prospect to address. But as leaders we need to address the challenges and opportunities and take steps to make a difference. Below are ten leadership skills to foster in ourselves and our associates, both female and male. After all, this is an issue that needs to be addressed by 100% of the workforce, not just the 46.8%.

1. Play to your strengths. Clearly not everyone has the same traits and leadership styles. Be true to who you are even when they reinforce stereotypes.
2. Develop your weaknesses.  Authenticity and playing to your strengths matter, but don’t use them as a shield to avoid stepping out of your comfort zone. Many leadership skills are learned, so take an honest inventory of where you want to grow and push yourself.
3. Do your job well. No matter how difficult situations can be, if you work hard and act with integrity you won’t have regrets. Maybe you will thrive where you are or choose to leave, but you can feel good about your contributions either way.
4. Recognize your biases. Fostering gender equality and scrutinizing stereotypes are good for everyone in the workplace and beyond. Awareness has proven to be important so read up on biases and be on the lookout for your own.
5. Don’t wait to get discovered. Women are more likely to be modest or silent about their own accomplishments with the idea that their work will speak for itself. Men tend to promote or brand themselves better. Get comfortable sharing your achievements and skills with others.
6. Network. Studies show both men and women tend to network with the same sex. Considering the gap in leadership and influence between men and women, this is a recipe for poor networking results for women. One way to overcome this is to intentionally add more men to your network. Focus on value, not just social interaction benefits.
7. Get a Mentor. Be A Mentor. Use your female-labeled skill of nurturing and foster the leader in yourself and your co-workers. Don’t necessarily stick to the same gender in establishing mentor relationships. That said, support the talented women in your scope of influence whether you are formally their mentor or not.

We can all play a role in fostering gender equality. While the trends are improving slowly, increasing awareness education and action will help pick up the pace.