Women and leadership - how do differences matter?
Lynne E. Devnew and Julia Storberg-Walker
Journal of Leadership Studies, Volume 12, Number 1, 2018, pp.38-42
DOI:10.1002/jls.21562
The argument it makes
Leadership theory has been driven by leadership practice. Given the predominance of male leaders in society, this means that most research has a male-orientation bias.
Even when females are taken into account, they are considered as a homogenous group rather than as a group with rich variance. This is a false grouping, and leads researchers to make errors.
In any group, but particularly in a group with minority representation, there will be individuals whose personality traits are different to the mean of the collective.
Key findings / Summation of the theory
No real theory on this one; mostly evidence-based opinions. But powerful ones!
Conclusion
Given that women grow up in such a wide variety of contexts, it cannot be expected that there is a one-size-fits-all approach to developing leadership in women. O
Potential practical implications
Any leadership development needs to be both collective and individual. It needs to recognise the differences in the audience and allow for everyone to develop their own unique leadership toolkit.
It is worth remembering when reading about leadership that ‘best practice’ may well be gender or culture biased from inception. Context always matters.
We always need to think about who we are trying to influence, and adapt our interactions to best achieve the right outcome. This means knowing people more than superficially.