DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP INC.

DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP INC.
DYNAMIC LEADERSHIP INC.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Can A Woman Be A Great Leader Of Men? VIDEO

Watch this video to find out if a woman can be a great leader of men:



Hi Folks. I’m Wayne Kehl and today I am going to ask you something that you might just find a little bit shocking. Here is my question: “can a woman be a great leader of men?”......Oh...I can hear the gasps right through the screen of my computer. However, I think it is a valid question because from my experiences, the battle of the sexes is not over yet. We still have not achieved full equality for women in business. What you are about to see is a discussion of women in leadership roles

If we are going to have an intelligent discussion about women in leadership position, I believe we must accept that women and men do not, and in most cases probably should not, lead in the same fashion. Women think differently than men and their natural tendencies are driven by different motives than men. In short, women and men are different...and thank God for that!

The differences between men and women are physiological, hormonal and historical. Those are things we cannot do anything about. However, as much as we cannot turn the clock back and rewrite history, I believe it is possible for us to change the future.

My belief is that women who want to be great leaders should not devalue their femininity by emulating the leadership traits of men. They should, celebrate their femaleness by bringing all of the amazing female qualities they have at their disposal to their leadership positions. They should think like women, act like women and look like women at all times. Women who change their inherent style to become more like men when they move into leadership positions are fooling know one. We all know they are women and we become uncomfortable when they appear to be moving away from their female nature and character.

Women make up fifty percent of the population. Because of the plethora of ladies around us, men have a pretty good understanding of what makes them tick. Most men have an undying love and respect for their mothers and would do almost anything to support and protect them. They will step in front of a hurtling freight train to save their wives from harm and they would fight a grizzly bear with a small stick to defend their daughters. Men are hard wired to treat women well and do everything they can to make their lives better.

Despite the natural tendency of men to protect women from harm, bullying and sexual harassment are not uncommon in the workplace. When the testosterone-driven positions of power that men hold dear are threatened by the scent of female hormones, they tend to drop their naturally protective instincts and go into fight mode. If a woman in a superior position takes on an aggressive, demanding stance, many men will see her as the enemy and will do any number of unspeakable things to engineer her demise. Even some WOMEN will see a dominant, masculine leadership style from another woman as a foreign and unpalatable.

At this point, you might think I am already in too deep and should quit while I am ahead. Well I not quite done yet and in order to illustrate my point, I want to tell you a story about a great female leader I have actually worked with....I will call her, Debbie for the purposes of this story. Please keep watching.

Debbie was known to be intelligent, knowledgeable and conscientious. For decades she performed well in important project management and product development positions. She was a great resource for a large number of employees, managers, and executive leaders. She was highly regarded, well liked, and highly valued for her work. The day she was promoted to vice president of sales however, marked a change in the way almost everyone in the company viewed her and in the general expectations everyone had of her.

It is important to note that the position Debbie was promoted to, had only been occupied by men in the past. She was given the responsibility not only for the overall sales of her division, but for the day-to-day sales activities of a large number of mature, aggressive, crusty male sales people. Not only were these fellows set in their ways, but they had never been led by a woman before and they had no idea what to expect.

Debbie had a big choice to make. She could continue to be the intelligent, kind, nurturing female she had always been, or she could morph into a hard, demanding, command and control leader. If she had betrayed her natural tendencies to care for and nurture her direct reports, she might have failed. However, she had enough faith in herself to avoid becoming something she was not. Instead, she led her division with kindness, caring, and a nurturing spirit. She held her direct reports accountable, but instead of making demands and finding fault, she offered support and encouragement.

When things went badly, Debbie proactively offered her help and rather than criticizing, lecturing, or disciplining, she coached, counselled and assisted. When things went well, she provided acknowledgement, praise and celebration. At all times, she exuded pride in her team and she fought for them like a mother bear. Her devotion to her work-family was obvious to all and it was rewarded with true loyalty and almost universal respect.

In fairness, it is safe to say that Debbie had to work harder and put in more effort than any man in the position before her in order to win over the men who reported to her. However, within a year she had gained their respect and admiration. Once she had made her mark as a serious leader, it was not uncommon to hear her male reports singing her praises and making it clear that she was the best sales manager they had ever worked with. They knew she cared about them and that she was there for them no matter what happened. She also became an icon for female employees, who admired her and considered her a role model for all other women in business.

She thought like a woman, she acted like a woman, she looked like a woman...and she succeeded like a man!

Can a woman be a great leader of men? Yes she can especially if she always remembers that its okay to be a woman! Thanks ladies for everything you do.

All the Best

I’m Wayne Kehl

Order Wayne's book "A Man On Women" here

(click the link)




3 comments:

  1. Very nice post. Its really very helpful to me to find result on search engine. Hope to hear more good information related to searching from your side. Many thanks for sharing this information.
    Future Leader

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Jony! Please feel free to pass the link on to others who you think may enjoy it. Also, please let me know if you have any other topics that you might like to hear about on my blog. All the Best.
    Wayne

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  3. You make great points, Wayne. Gender inequality is an undying issue in every workplace. Debbie's story is a great inspiration to women who are experiencing the same scenario. Certainly, gender doesn't measure effective leadership and it has been proven countless times that women lead equally well as men do.

    ReplyDelete