People often define leadership as a person’s ability to take control over a group of people to achieve a common goal. A definition that implies the need for authority and the ability to influence, which are qualities that women are thought to lack.
Here is a list of five reasons why women would actually make great leaders:
- Women are team players
In order to lead, one needs to cooperate and act as a team. Due to their tendency to valorise interpersonal relationships, women face little difficulty playing within a team and keeping the groups’ best interest in mind.
Women also tend to avoid disagreements and to sort out interpersonal issues when they occur, which helps them receive increased trust and engagement.
- Women have a stronger sense of compassion and empathy
If we all took some time to imagine the qualities of a person we would like to be led by, we would definitely think of someone with high compassion and a strong ability to understand our concerns, worries, and the challenges we might come across. Who could possibly do that better than women? This empathy leads to motivating individuals which is a key factor in achieving common goals.
- Determination in its finest shape
Patriarchal societies, violence against women and gender inequalities are all concepts that women were directly exposed to or know someone who was. Luckily, these injustices served to fuel a great sense of determination in women who keep on trying to prove they are worthy of success, respect, and equality. They actually achieve better than men at studies; according to an article published on nbcnews.com, “a big analysis of grades covering 1.6 million elementary, high school and university students shows that girls outperform boys at all ages.” Women therefore proved to be worthy of the high, leading roles in society, politics, economy and a plethora of other areas.
- Women are better communicators
Women tend to have an easier time expressing their thoughts and opinions when compared to men. They therefore cope better with received and given feedback and take it seriously.
Women are also great listeners; they communicate well with their teams and try to avoid miscommunication and misunderstandings.
- Ability to multitask
As much as we hate those social standards and expectations which dictate how women should be good wives, mothers, successful and independent workers, and also good cooks, we can see now at the workplace how these expectations enhanced women’s ability to multitask.
This doesn’t mean that all women are good at all the above, it simply means that women have been pressured enough to perform well in many areas that they generally became excellent multitaskers.
