Unit D - Blog 30

A conventional view about male leadership would be that men have the experience in powerful positions and that they have the proper education and knowledge to succeed in these positions. They also have statistics to back up the notion that they are successful in leadership roles. Women don’t have these experiences and statistics to compare because they traditionally haven’t had the opportunities to make these statistics. However, in the youtube.com video, Does Gender Matter, there are some strong statistics that say women are an advantage in leadership roles. One statistic noted was that Fortune 500 companies that have more women in leadership roles have 34% more profits than ones without. Women also have statistics that prove they have the same educational background and qualifications, but are only a minute amount of women in leadership positions. Whelan points out in the Shared Leadership video that sexism still exists, but it is now much more subtle. Men will benefit because they are more likely to hire like individuals to themselves, that being men. Whelan also points out that another disadvantage, which is also an advantage, is that there are a few women in notable leadership positions such as Hilary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, which in some ways takes attention away from the positions that don’t have a enough women inclusion.

Some gender expectations frame the types of leadership behavior for women. The framework for men is already there and it has been there for a very long time, but for women it is forming and there is a lot of influence from gender stereotypes and socialization. As previous areas of research have shown us, there are implications of “gendered” behaviors that trickle into the workplace. In Shared Leadership Whelan suggests that women will bring a different type of performance and skills. They will be strong at working in teams and building relationships. These are because gender affiliations with nurturing and care giving. There are also notions that women will address issues outside of just their own. Because they are a minority, they will be able to relate to other minority issues and address them. Wheman suggests that child care issues and education would be an issue that they would surface because those issues have been neglected in the past and are likely more important to women. Basically with women there will be new issues brought up and there will be change. With men we can only anticipate the consistency that history has shown us.

When women get the chance and actually are in leadership roles consistency, there will be many positive outcomes. First, diversity is great because it gives us new perspectives. As Whelan suggests, issues that have been ignored or swept under the rug by male leadership will be brought to the table and addressed. It will be a norm for women to be an equal part of society and we won’t lose focus on the issues because someone different is in that role. I liked that Whelan said that women being in leadership role won’t be to just benefit women, it will be to benefit everyone. This is my favorite stance on movements. This is the stance that Martin Luther King Jr. took. He wanted equality and everyone to benefit from equality, he didn’t want his people to become the advantaged, he wanted them to be the equal for a better society. This is what Whelan is saying too. It will be shared leadership, not women dominating leadership roles. It will give men new perspectives on leadership styles that they can adopt, and men will teach women their styles and it will be combined. She believes that if shared leadership happens everything will improve from the economy, to democracy, and other issues that haven’t been addressed. I agree too. Women are over half of our population, but we only use a small percentage for leadership roles. We haven’t been using a large chunk of our potential, and with more people to choose from, there will likely be better results.

I am neutral on which leadership style I prefer. I guess the type I would favor is shared. I have had both male and female supervisors and bosses, and each had similarities and differences. My previous manager was a man and he had an intimidation factor that he was able to use with his leadership. For me that intimidation factor really helped develop me. When he gave me tough feedback, I took it serious. With my manager before that, who was a female, there really wasn’t an intimidation factor, but she helped develop me nevertheless. I got into heated conversations with both of them, and neither one backed down. My female manager developed me by working with me more often. My male boss just left me alone and gave me feedback to either change or keep doing what I was doing. I really do like the shared leadership style. I think it makes you more universal to different work environments and teaches you different leadership styles as opposed to just one narrow type.