A Personal Letter from Molly D. Shepard - June 2005

Two New York Times Op-Ed articles by John Tierney, "What Women Want", printed on May 24th, and "The Urge to Win", May 31st, talk about the competitiveness of women vs. men and how women's purported lack of competitiveness has negatively impacted their quest for top corporate positions.

The main thrust of the first article is that all things being equal, men and women have different appetites for competition and that "even in tasks where they do well, women seem, on average, to shy away from competition". Mr. Tierney states, "It's not fair to deny women a chance at those jobs (high-paying corporate positions), but it's not realistic to expect that they'll seek them in the same numbers that men will." This article, as Mr. Tierney readily admits, generated so many irate emails from women attesting to their willingness to compete with any man, that Mr. Tierney felt compelled to write a second article on the subject.

In the second article, Mr. Tierney continues to justify his position by referring to men's success at Scrabble tournaments. Men are simply willing to do the boring, repetitive behaviors such as spending many hours a day doing computerized drills and memorizing long lists of letter combinations in order to win.

Arguing the competitive nature of women vs. men seems irrelevant to me in today's business world. The question is not one of competitiveness alone, but the need for an individual--man or woman-- to possess the right mix of leadership skills to not only advance in an increasingly diverse corporate environment, but once there, to be able to lead and manage an increasingly complex, diverse, global corporation.

Research is showing that the "right" mix of skills for both men and women is a gender-specific mix of male and female leadership traits. A 2003 report from the Hay Group, Inc. demonstrated that the most outstanding female executives incorporate both masculine and feminine traits in their leadership styles as opposed to an "average" female executive who relies heavily on a masculine style. The study further suggests that male managers and executives "would do well to include the more feminine leadership styles in their repertoires" such as collaboration, teambuilding and consensus building.

In assessing differences in leadership styles women, in general, do have more collaborative styles than men. In a recent Leader's Edge study, "Why Executive Women Leave Corporate Positions and What Companies Could Do to Retain Them", women executives stated they wanted more open, less secretive, more respectful corporate cultures. They suggested collegial team building, mentoring programs and a visible management team that truly supports employees. They stated the importance of corporations fostering strong morale and a high sense of integrity through strong leadership.

These are strong words; but if the research is correct, it is in the best interest of corporate America to heed them. A research study of Fortune 500 companies by Dr. Roy D. Adler of Pepperdine University and a University of Michigan Business School study of 1,400 companies found that having women in top executive positions makes for a healthier and wealthier company.

Corporate America is becoming more and more diverse as women and minorities enter and rise in the hierarchy and companies continue to compete on a global stage. The white male dominated, one-size-fits-all corporate culture and homogeneous marketplace is a thing of the past. Corporate leaders in today's world need a lot more than competitiveness to rise to the top, manage and lead effectively and create a vision for their corporation's future. And, clearly, having the most talented, skilled executives-including women and minorities--in top executive positions makes good business sense.

What are your views on this issue? Feel free to contact us and let us know how you feel.

Molly D. Shepard
Founder and CEO
The Leader's Edge™

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