The concept of leadership has evolved over time to a more holistic view of what it means to be a leader. Today, emotional intelligence along with strategic thinking and vision are lauded as the most important traits in a good leader.
Experts agree that emotional intelligence can be unpacked into several components. These include self-awareness, empathy, and the humility to recognize a knowledge gap, and the courage to seek answers to fill those gaps. In particular empathy, a growth mindset, and vulnerability are now collectively regarded as some of the most important traits in a good business leader. There has been a lot of research that shows that collectively, these qualities in a leader help build a culture of trust, learning, and goodwill. People are proud to work for organizations that espouse these values. Consequently, there is also a movement towards cultivating these traits in the modern organization and its leaders.
However, it is interesting is that these qualities have traditionally always been identified with the female gender. Being considerate of other’s perspectives, having the empathy to understand another’s state of mind, expressing kindness and generosity towards the people around you even if they think differently from you, owning one’s own vulnerability, and finding strength by doing so, using failure as an opportunity to learn. These attributes have long helped women thrive as trustworthy members of their families and their communities.
On one hand, we are evolving and expanding our thinking of leadership, emphasizing the traits that we now believe are important for leading complex, diverse organizations that serve a global multicultural audience. On the other hand, despite this evolution in what we consider leadership values we lack representation of women, who inherently seem to possess these attributes, in business and political leadership roles.
My hope is that with the shift in the definition of leadership, we will also organically begin to see more women in top leadership roles, not because they contribute to diversity and inclusion but instead because they are naturally gifted with the skills needed to be successful in these roles.
Ironically, I write this a week after the two leading women candidates for the democratic nomination dropped out. We will have to wait another 4 years for the possibility of having a female leader steering our wonderful country.
Interesting and relevant article on gender and leadership:
Incompetent leadership consequences: https://hbr.org/2020/03/how-to-spot-an-incompetent-leader?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin
