A state of mind: women and leadership

What will it be like when women take the lead?

On September 22, Switzerland experienced a small revolution in leadership, by giving women a majority in the top echelons of government. They now hold 4 of 7 seats of the executive federal council. In a country that only gave women the right to vote in 1971, this is an historical event.

The election of a Federal Assembly is regarded here as a major turning point, or a signal of important developments in the "state of mind" of the country. Although some past presidencies of the Confederation of Parliament were held by women, laws coming out of parliament have not exactly been open and sensitive to gender issues to date. The hope is that a feminine majority of political leaders will make a serious dent in the conservative stance of traditional federal government, moving away from its rather sexist and reactionary reputation.

What is the "state of mind" in your organization around women in leadership?

Are you sensing a change in the position and contribution of women in your company?

In my experience, there is a lot of positive movement happening in Europe, particularly with new quotas in place in companies for women in the Boardroom, and more impact of women in politics, on consumption patterns and in new market creation. In many corporations, however, I notice that both men and women executives still prefer NOT to discuss gender questions, as part of a broader debate on racial/cultural discrimination issues.

We miss an important opportunity, in my view, to make a difference, to use the particular potential, talent and contributions that women and other minorities have in our society if we avoid the 'women in leadership' debate. In doing so, we successfully avoid the topic of how direct empowerment can accelerate positive change in business, and in the world.

Killer combination: avoidance and consensus

On the other hand, avoidance is understandable, as people tend to be deeply afraid of (ab)using power and engaging in power struggles. As author and public speaker Caroline Myss says, "You are afraid of your own empowerment as much as those around you are of you becoming empowered."

This was illustrated clearly in a leadership program I coached recently, where, in an all-male group of senior level executives, the biggest concern was to carry out tasks in such a way that they could avoid conflict. They were focused on "neutralizing" differences in opinion, to have consensus before making a move. If someone demonstrated a different way of approaching issues, or used a contrasting (directive, creative or less 'agreement' oriented) leadership style, the ability to maintain communication and to carry out a task in the group began to collapse.

Despite our best intentions, a consensus culture where everyone is the same and we are all politically correct, seems from this example to be everything but empowering. It smothers new approaches and denies learning from contrasting personality types that exist in any group. I imagine the frustration would have been even more pronounced if we'd had women executives in the mix.

How do women do it?

In a male-oriented, consensus culture like the one described above, how can women to take up their own feminine style of leadership? Is there room or is it a recipe for disaster? 

To find out, we've started doing a series of interviews with dynamic executives from around the world. We've interviewed:

Marcia Reynolds, American author of Wander Woman, an experienced corporate executive who now mentors and coaches a new breed of women in international business. Listen here.

(Audio via the Dynamic Feminine Leadership Facebook page)

Marja Ijäs, Finnish executive and Human Resources Director at Johnson & Johnson Switzerland, who directs leadership programs and is instrumental in changing corporate culture. Listen here.

(Audio via the Dynamic Feminine Leadership Facebook page)

Maria Wilhelmsson, a Swedish businesswoman with many years in corporate sales and marketing, who has recently also become a voice and presentation coach. Listen here.

(Audio via the Dynamic Feminine Leadership channel on YouTube)

Enjoy!

Thank you to Carolina Rodriguez-Barros for creating these interviews with me.