Nurturing and Leadership
Responses to women and men in leadership roles are conditioned by a social structure traditionally dominated by men. However recent studies have shown that the types of leaders in this new global economy must possess a specific set of qualities. In fact, the changing business environment favors women because many of the characteristics and behaviors needed for leadership today are those that come more naturally to women (Noble 2006). The characteristics such as self-confidence, the need for achievement, the drive to carry out an action, and self-monitoring are associated with masculine traits, while women’s inherent qualities were classified as caring and nurturing. According to our textbook Daft, interactive leadership has been found to be common among female leaders. Interactive leadership is characterized by values such as inclusion, collaboration, relationship building and caring rather than position power and formal authority. Actually by many people, this nurturing is viewed as “weak” and “soft”. On the other hand, I argue that leadership is not only about creating a great vision. It is about creating conditions under which all followers can perform independently and effectively toward a common objective. In other words, leadership is an interac tive, dynamic and mutually interrelated process. The significant changes in women’s access to leadership roles over the past few decades are remarkable, but still insufficient. Prelude to a society in which women and men can claim a fair share of the challenges and opportunities is needed. To transform society, all humans must revise the gender stereotypes and their way of thinking and perceiving the world, business and leadership. References: Daft, R. L.(2008).New Era of Management (2nd ed.). China: Thomson South-Western http://www.leadershipforwomen.com.au/questionnaire/12insights.pdf http://www.womensmedia.com/lead/88-women-and-leadership-delicate-balancing-act.html
