Are Women Better Leaders than Men?

Virginia Woolf had once quoted, “Women have to work twice as hard to prove themselves half as good as men…” only to add as an afterthought that “thankfully, it’s not a difficult task at all!” This quote could not be truer anywhere else as it is in the corporate sphere, where a person is judged in terms of deliverance, rather than gender or the traditional roles of a man and woman. Leaders of top firms have increasingly begun to prefer women as a part of their organization as compared to men, for the soft skills and team building skills they bring into the organization. Because of the skills that are considered traditionally female, often brushed under the seemingly innocuous phrase “soft skills”, they are bringing a sea change into the whole corporate scene, but can they be considered better leaders? 

Do Women Make Better Leaders?
Here are some points that we might consider when trying to find out which of the two sexes is better at leadership. 

Motivational Skills And Mentorship
The ability to be able to inspire the team into performing better and actually internalizing what is being expected out of the team members is a quality that most women possess. They are often seen to be better at inspiring their team members into performing better, give up their personal differences and function as a team. Men, on the other hand, may want to have less to do with other people’s personal differences and may even pretend that no problems exist. Or else, they may pass judgments when they should actually be listening. 

Team Spirit
Women are better at inculcating in themselves and in others the feeling of belonging to a team and standing up for each other in a team. They will often intervene if someone is being unfair with any of their team members, will regularly stand up for them if they are being wronged and make them feel that they are not alone. Men, on the other hand, may not always stand up for their team members and will expect them to fend for themselves. The same men, when under the leadership of a woman and when they have an issue with another team member, do not hesitate to ask for her intervention, instead of fending for themselves! 

Soft Skills
Women almost always end up choosing the right kind of words when it comes to talking to juniors – they delegate work better and make sure the talents of each of their team members do not go unnoticed or unnurtured. They will act like a coach rather than a player – caring more for the development and glory of the team as a whole rather than personal goal-scoring or personal glory. Men are often more interested in personal glory, sometimes to the extent of self-aggrandisement and even as they lead a team, try to score a few goals on their own to get ahead. Women will also take more time in explaining the work to a new employee or team member and will make efforts to make the person feel comfortable inside the team. These skills may be dismissed as “not the traditional business skills”, but veterans of the corporate world know that such an attitude helps in the long run. 

Creativity
Women are seen to be more creative when it comes to contributing to a firm in any way – they handle both clients and employees better, are not only creative in terms of contributing to the business and improving it, but also at encouraging other team members to think out of the box and be creative. Instead of always providing solutions and imposing them on others like men do, they create an environment that makes people come up with a solution collectively. 

Debating
Women often possess the capacity to be able to process the information available to them better when it comes to leading a debate. However, they often lack in terms of listening to the other person’s point of view and end up cutting people short, thus earning the title of a bad debater. On this point, men score higher as they do not cut people short too often and debate quite maturely. Women often shout at the top of their voices and refuse to listen to another person’s point of view.