by Francesca Colombo, Manager of Excellence Education

We hear more and more about female leadership, understood as a managerial style characterized by certain skills historically and culturally linked to women.

For example, it is thought that women are more inclined than men to a more empathetic and inclusive communication style aimed at the community. Or that men have a more incisive approach than women in establishing themselves as leaders.

But in an ever-changing world, does it really make sense to talk about leadership in terms of male and female categories? Or is it not rather a “good faith bias”?

To give a coherent answer to this question, let’s first take a step back: let’s analyze, in general terms, the concept of leadership and its characteristics.

Leadership is the ability by which an individual is able to inspire, involve and convince people to believe in a project and to give their all to implement it. A good leader must possess and constantly develop her skills in four areas:

• Self-regulation: describes the management of stress and the control of one’s emotional states in critical situations
• Passion: it concerns the enthusiasm and passion lavished in the work and in the involvement of others
• Ethics: describes behavior based on loyalty, fairness and respect
• Self-enhancement: describes behaviors aimed at personal development and continuous improvement
  In the light of these characteristics, we can say that the leader is, before being a man or woman, a unique person with her own peculiarities.

In the light of these characteristics, we can say that the leader is, before being a man or woman, a unique person with her own peculiarities. Competence, commitment, sacrifice, determination and listening are essential requirements that go beyond the boundaries of gender, from which it is necessary to draw inspiration for any professional affirmation.

Listening, in particular, is one of the core skills of leadership, as well as one of the main issues on which gender differences and similarities are still being discussed.
In this regard, it may be true that women are more prone to an empathetic attitude oriented towards listening, but generalizing is useless, indeed it often hinders with prejudices or assumptions that are too clear-cut but disconnected from reality. If we consider a leadership style that is constructive and effective, it is necessary that everyone, regardless of gender, develops and improves this competence, as we mentioned previously, with a view to self-enhancement.

“Leadership” men and women are people, each with their own different, unique and therefore precious approaches and methods: a resource that is important to exploit for the growth of the organizations themselves.
This diversity of skills, abilities and vision is what can give impetus to organizations, which can introduce innovation and allow them to face the new challenges that the future poses in a more structured way.
Today, in fact, in order to be competitive, organizations must first of all be performing and they will be if there is harmony, a positive climate and effective communication inside.

The leadership must therefore identify a role to fill regardless of gender connotations.

The synergy between skills, competencies and leadership styles, different by gender, but equally profitable and effective, can foster a greater breadth of vision and a different point of view of what it can mean to manage top roles of responsibility and therefore of power. This is useful to underline that the exercise of constructive leadership is not in itself a gender issue, but it is certainly marked by approaches and sensitivities that women today tend to express more, without having exclusive rights as women!
The challenge then is to dispel prejudices of all kinds and reciprocal between genders, which are still widespread today.

In this regard, here are some suggestions to adopt in the company:

• Carry out a climate analysis and understand if there are external barriers (e.g. traditionally male environment/sector) and/or intrinsic gender bias, conscious and unconscious (e.g. professionals who “limit themselves” in a growth path or believe they are not suitable for the role)
• Define inspiring and realistic role models
• Structuring a path of cultural change through workshops and laboratories without distinction of gender
• Develop KPIs to constantly monitor the path of cultural change
• Sponsoring successes, always without distinction of gender but based on skills, in the company, through mentorship courses, to promote and enhance constant evolution

These are just some of the possible actions organizations can take.

Therefore, there is a need for the richness of differences between genders, for open dialogue also on the issue of interpreting being a leader.

In fact, being different in the expression of healthy leadership is a value and can become a common value. Not only in theory, but as an organizational and shared practice. Precisely for this reason, the goal to be pursued is the development of a talent ecosystem in which leadership is not a question of gender, but is based on principles of inclusion and equity and, above all, meritocracy.