How Women Leaders Contribute to Organizational Growth

by Jane Sanders

Imagine all the untapped talent in corporate America, stuck behind low- to middle-management desks because they look and act different than white men - talent disguised as women and other minorities. Now imagine utilizing all that talent, and reaping the positive results.

      The war is being raged. Companies are fighting for talent, for survival reasons, not necessarily for the moral and ethical reasons although they should be enough. Right now the richest resource for new talent lies in overlooked minorities. Because women are the largest segment of this resource pool in the workforce, women are the largest source of untapped talent.

      Not only does the corporate world gain great executives by hiring and promoting women, but also great business results. A large sample of managers investigated in 2000 by the Center for Leadership Studies resulted in women scoring significantly higher than men in overall leadership effectiveness. Women exceeded men with idealized influence, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration. These findings mean that women, more so than the male managers, motivated their followers to feel respect and pride, showed optimism and excitement about future goals, and attempted to develop and mentor followers and attend to their individual needs. Women also exceeded men on contingent reward, meaning they gave their followers rewards for good performance.

      One reason for this higher scoring of women may be their perceived requirement to meet a higher standard of performance to attain and keep leadership positions. A second reason may be the tendency for women to use more feminine styles, as seen in the individualized consideration and reward attributes. Another possibility is that female managers encounter resistance when they employ the more traditional command-and-control leadership styles, and soon learn the advantages of the more interpersonally sensitive and inspirational type of leadership. Many other studies and meta-analyses indicate the same conclusion.

      Translation…when women use their innate feminine skills, and balance those with the masculine traits necessary for successful leadership (even in the face of possible negative reactions to those masculine traits) they are more authentic and therefore more effective, influential, and powerful. Why? Favorable leadership behavior is perceived by many to be more stereotypically male. The gender role for women is decidedly feminine. If she follows traditional male-style leadership behavior, she will generate negative reactions because she is not male. If she follows solely her feminine gender role, she will generate negative reactions because she doesn’t meet perceived leader role behavior. So, a balance of male and female styles yields the best results.

      A study in 1996 compared styles of 25 global women political leaders. Consistencies in style among these leaders concentrated on minimizing hierarchy, being inclusive, working toward consensus, and creating unity…all feminine behavior styles.

      Catalyst points out strong business rationale for developing fully the talents of women. At the top are the economic drivers stemming from the changing global environment. These drivers include evolving workforce demographics, top talent cutting across demographic groups, competition for scarce human resources, globalization, women making 85% of purchase decisions, and women emerging as decision makers among customers and competitors. Women have the money.

      Painful and significant costs of failing to develop women take several forms: undesired turnover adds up to loss of talent to competitors, loss of investment in training, loss of value of experience, cost of recruiting replacements, and learning curve costs for replacement. Ouch! Why are women leaping out of corporate America? They feel stuck, they continually get passed over for promotions, and/or their company does not recognize or have initiatives in place to ease their monumental struggle with work/life balance. They leave to start their own business (over five million women own their own businesses; women-owned companies are growing at twice the rate of men-owned businesses), they go to the competition, or they give up on a professional career and embrace their other full-time job as director of family and home.

      Opportunities gained by developing women to full potential include: diverse perspectives on a wider range of issues and solutions, a maximization of marketing efforts to women (remember, they make 85% of purchase decisions), higher quality workforce from tapping top talent across demographic groups, and higher employee commitment and satisfaction.

      Not only would advancing women help organizations market to other women, but such action would also send a message to female employees that women matter. Women leaders demonstrate that it’s possible for female employees to advance and make a difference, and to consider how they can excel and work to get promoted.

      All of this adds up to enhanced productivity, competitive advantage, and financial performance…three undeniable reasons why developing and promoting women leaders are in the best interest of employers. Some companies get it – 85% of the top 20 most successful companies have women on their Boards (half of the 20 least successful companies do not).

      An organization’s key source of competitive advantage is the capacity to optimize and use its internal resources in uncertain and dynamic contexts. At the top of the list of these internal resources are the capabilities of human capital. Underutilized women and people of color are major sources of untapped value that can enhance an organization’s creativity, change efforts, teamwork, and financial performance. Therefore, hiring, developing, and advancing women into leadership positions can be one of the most useful strategies an organization can employ to succeed in an increasingly globalized and uncertain economy.

      A yearlong study conducted by McKinsey & Co. with 77 companies and nearly 6,000 managers and executives determined that the most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be talent – smart, sophisticated businesspeople who are globally experienced, technologically skilled, and operationally agile. The August 1998 FastCompany magazine article by Charles Fishman discussing this study is aptly titled “The War For Talent.” As the demand for talent increases, the supply will be diminishing.

      People are the key source of competitive advantage. Capital is accessible. Strategies are short-term…they can be copied. Technology lifespan is shortening all the time. Talented employees, in the right environment, generate better ideas, execute them more effectively, and develop other people better. And women have the same potential for this kind of talent as men do – they just need to be recognized and developed.

      Once more, imagine all the untapped talent in corporate America, stuck behind low- to middle-management desks because they look and act different than men - talent disguised as women and other minorities. Now imagine utilizing all that talent, and reaping the positive results.

© 2004 by Jane Sanders, all rights reserved.

Jane Sanders, president of GenderSmart Solutions, is an expert in gender issues and communication and helps companies create GenderSmart cultures to retain and advance women. She is a consultant, coach, and speaker in the areas of gender communication, recruiting & retention of women, strategic life planning, and authentic leadership confidence. She is author of “GenderSmart: Solving The Communication Puzzle Between Men and Women.”  Reach Jane toll-free at 877-343-2150; jane@janesanders.com; www.janesanders.com.

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