It seems appropriate in a week when we have just celebrated International Women’s Day to consider the qualities women may bring to leadership be that political, organisational, community or indeed closer to home in the family.
Research points to organisations with greater gender diversity in leadership and Exec roles outperforming those organisations with less diversity. (Have a look at McKinsey’s 2018 report Delivering through Diversity).
The gender agenda and getting more women into leadership roles is very much about fairness and equality of opportunity, as well as tapping into a deep well of talent that the world needs right now. From a higher perspective it’s about the integration of masculine and feminine qualities in the practice of all leaders.
Of course we need the masculine – decisiveness, drive, results focus, task-oriented, assertive – and we need, equally, the balance, tempering and expansiveness brought by the feminine – more nurturing, compassionate, collaborative, flexible, creative, open to and allowing for emergence.
These interdependent qualities exist in all of us – either in play or waiting for our call. If we want to create organisations that contribute to a better world the challenge for us all is to recognise, nurture and bring them to the fore in our leadership, irrespective of our gender.