Women in leadership

張悅言

The word Leadership is itself self explanatory in its own concept of evolving. Leading often refers to magnetism and the ability to “give sense” to the followers. Womens involvement in workforce has seen a rapid increase in the last few decades. And the fact is that women are now increasingly entering the leadership roles which were used occupied by man. They have been respected and admired in terms of business leader.

In addition of the fact that more powerful role they are playing. In various professional fields women hold leadership roles， most common fields of which cluster around education， and nursing， nonprofit and social service sectors. Jean LIU， the President of Didi Chuxing， the worlds largest mobile transportation platform based in China， was ranked one of Fast Companys top five “The Worlds Most Creative People in Business in 2016.”

Why women make better business leaders？

On top of that， women have a better communication skill. More women on their boards have 42% higher sales returns， 66% higher return on invested capital and 53% higher return on equity. The success stories are often link to superior communication skills. Studies show that men speak more words than women over the course of a day， but due to their weaker command of language in social situations， they repeat the same words and pay dubious compliments.

Secondly， women take more initiative than man in the work. In a study by Harvard Business Review， women in management rated 11.58 percentile points above their male peers that is taking initiatives in the workplace. Indra Nooyi， CEO of Pepsico， forges ahead with a plan to focus on more nutritious drinks， despite criticism. Its realistic to turn 10 billion dollars business into 30 billion dollars in just 10 years.

Thirdly， women have a high degree of emotional intelligence. Daniel Coleman， author of the brain and emotional intelligence new insights states that truly effective leadership is distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence. And according to Coleman， women tend to be better than men on average at empathy， particularly emotional empathy， sensing in the moment how the other person is feeling and also， at social skills， at keeping things feeling good between people in a group.

What are the advantages of women in leadership？

First of all， Women are sensitive. They are always quality oriented and safety conscious. Women have the ability to see opportunity and give their ideas life and inspire others to do the same. Women， when given the opportunity to be themselves， are natural leaders.endprint

Then， Women are generous in their ability to give and open doors for one another. They want to feel as if they are making an impact， helping to make a difference in the lives of others.

Whats more， when facing troubles and risks， women dont quit. Most of time， they are more patient and tenacious than men. They thrive at creating and sustaining momentum for both themselves and others.

Women are also masters at facilitating connection points between people， resources and relationships. This is why women are such effective and efficient leaders. They dont waste time and can quickly identify areas to consolidate， organize and strengthen business outcomes.

Last but not least， every woman has maternal instinct. Woman in leadership always regards their career and employees as their kids. The magic chili spicy sauce， Lao Gan Ma， was created by a 68-year old Chinese woman named Tao Huabi. She knows most of her employees by name， pays visits to their homes regularly， and makes them a special home-cooked meal on their birthdays.Tao knows she lacks management experience， so she treats her employees well to ensure their loyalty and commitment to Lao Gan Ma.

It is inarguable that in both business and political world today， more and more females are gaining power. We cannot ignore the fact that the long existing stereotype that it is home where lies the role of woman is facing unprecedented challenge.

To date， no doubt more and more people start to agree on the fact that it is not only men who can play the leaders role. As a matter of fact， in developed society， women， on average have a better academic intelligence and wiser interpersonal communication skill， which guaranteed them the same or even better potential as a successful leader. A great many intelligent female CEOs and political leaders are the best examples for this argument.

What we find ironic is that some special qualities of female which people take as examples of weakness， such as sensitive， responsible， generous， tough and attention to details in fact perfectly articulated the profile of a successful leader in a modern world. We believe instead of being disadvantaged， female are equipped with natural advantages in leadership.

However， due to some special physical conditions such as motherhood， and social norms， for instance， sexual discrimination and unfairly distributed housework load， it takes women doubled efforts of men to be a leader. In order to solve this inequality， we here call for efforts from the whole society！

We hold a positive view about the future of woman in leadership. We believe in near future we will see more and more female figures actively participating in big decision-making board！

References：

[1]Jenni Colwill，Jill Townsend，（1999）“Women，leadership and information technology：The impact of women leaders in organizations and their role in integrating information technology with corporate strategy”，Journal of Management Development，Vol.18 Issue：3，pp.207-216，https：//doi.org/10.1108/02621719910261049.

[2]Gray，J.（1992），Men Are from Mars，Women Are from Venus， Harper Collins，New York，NY.

[3]Carolyn Noble，Sharon Moore，（2006）“Advancing women and leadership in this post feminist，post EEO era：A discussion of the issues”，Women in Management Review，Vol.21 Issue：7，pp.598-603，https：//doi.org/10.1108/09649420610692534.

[4]Bradley，H.（1999），Gender and Power in the Workplace， Analysing the Impact of Economic Change，Macmillan，London.[Google Scholar].endprint