Do Women Outperform Men in Long-Term Collaborative Leadership?
By Peter J. Dean, Ph.D., President, Leaders By Design

Currently, the gender norm in corporate America's executive suite is masculine. The executive men outnumber the executive women by roughly 85% in our country's largest companies. From a societal viewpoint, history in western and eastern civilizations documents masculine governance much the same way. Stephen Green, Chairperson, HSBC and author of Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality and an Uncertain World, I believe, has summed it up best:

Throughout history….one half of the population has been treated as in subjection to the other half. But the overwhelming fact is that for most of history the vast majority of women have played a marginal role in society, have been denied education or any serious chance to achieve their potential... Often the subjection has been enforced with specific cruelty; …foot binding, female circumcision, female infanticide… -- all of which have contributed to immeasurable suffering and waste of human potential.

It is one of the most striking glories of globalization that the processes of urbanization, education and communication are gradually righting this huge wrong. … And, lo and behold, the world discovers that women can flourish and lead commercially, professionally and politically.

With Green's perspective in mind, I want to speak briefly to the collaborative practices that women naturally bring to leadership and long-term success in the marketplace. I will earmark the shift in executive leadership development from only short-term to short-and-long term together that is already visible in some companies.

As senior writer for Fortune Magazine, Betsy Morris suggests companies such as Genentech, Apple and Starbucks are not following the old rules of a male-dominated culture epitomized by the mantra of "real men make their numbers every quarter" while discounting the long-term consequences for the companies, instead, decisions in these companies are made for the sake of posterity for all stakeholders, employees, customers and shareholders, not just the shareholders. This balance of short and long-term focus in decision making blends masculine and feminine skills that can be tapped for business sustainability.

Generally speaking, men execute leadership with a laser-like focus on completing the task at hand which can be perceived as being masculine. Thus, male leaders tend to excel in the practice of:

• Controlling emotional distractions within them and among others
• Summoning vast amounts of energy to do the job
• Focusing theirs and others attention on the job at hand
• Committing to accomplishing the task efficiently, and
• Solving complex problems relatively quickly

Women, generally speaking, bring the leadership skills of listening comprehensively, empathizing with what they hear, attending to what others want, a patient willingness to engage in conversations addressing short and long-term ethical concerns and dealing with conflict while being respectful to the other person. These are the kind of skills that foster long-term success and business sustainability but are not seen as masculine so the skills are not as robustly embraced by corporate leaders. In short, women excel in the following:

• "Reading" people's motives
• Asking questions and listening
• Empathetically understanding the other person
• Having a capacity for patience
• Seeing the big picture
• Working collaboratively, and
• Maintaining respect when stressed

If men and women are free to bring their fundamental skills into their execution of leadership with each other, without one dominating the other, as often happens in meetings shutting down the minority voice of women, then the company benefits in the short and long-term.

As senior executive coaches, we know that the use of only masculine skills can go awry and dominate if executives seek only the maximization of shareholder value and in the process usurp their responsibility for the long-term benefit of all stakeholders. If men can expand past their focused practice of pushing only for the ‘numbers' to read right, if they really include women in decision-making, and if women don't forsake their natural practices and adopt male styles of doing business, our workplaces will have an opportunity to reap the rewards of short and long-term comprehensive and collaborative leadership.

Moreover, the fact that all of these practices, both masculine and feminine, can emerge from either gender is noteworthy. An executive should be able to draw upon his or her fundamental strengths. Thus, the new expectation is that during a conversation, both the man and the woman involved in the interaction can use a combination of male and female leadership traits. This concept opens up huge potential for a higher ground of interaction at work between men and women where a more comprehensive use of cooperative leadership skills can be used making the company both unique and quite competitive in the marketplace.

At The Leader's Edge/Leaders By Design, we have learned vividly about the personal practices of leadership that result in short-term and long-term success. It is neither a projection of only a masculine or only a feminine approach but a blend of both. Embedded within this hybrid is the significant fact that finally women are now accepted as leaders in enlightened companies and by inclusive and thoughtful company heads. So, do executive women outperform executive men in collaborative leadership for the long-term sustainability of a company? Probably, but we need many more executive women in the top seats first to really answer that question.

Learn more about how The Leader's Edge/Leaders By Design can help your group build collaborative leadership practices. Visit our Consulting & Customized Services page.