Differences in the Leadership Manner of Men and Women Leaders

Differences in the Leadership Manner of Men and Women Leaders

Introduction

Who, between a man and a woman, performs better at leadership? This is a question that has been imminent ever since the theories and discussions on time management started, in the business world. The leadership approach of the male gender and that of the female gender differs sharply. The male leader is mostly straightforward in carrying out his leadership roles, using his authority ruthlessly, whereas a female leader will tend to excel at her job by looking at problems with the aim of solving it, for the smooth running of an institution (Ahmet, 2015). The business world may be male-dominated. That does not, however, mean that women cannot perform as leaders. The women in business work extremely hard to achieve and maintain their jobs and leadership positions. Moreover, leadership studies reveal that women are better leaders, as they are able to handle extreme situations of stress and are naturally better suited for leadership. They have the ability to multitask and are easily able to socialize with their employees or co-workers. They are also able to separate personal issues from work-related issues. This ensures quick problem-solving in the workplace. This proposal looks at the debate on which gender is better at leadership, by looking at the facts from both angles of the discussion.

Key Words Used

Male leadership, female leadership, differences in leadership, gender leadership traits, and leadership capabilities.

Approach Taken

This research’s main goal was to establish the interrelation existing between the leadership fashion of the male gender and that of the female gender and to determine the differences between them. The research carried out in the compilation of this paper will shed light on leadership traits, strengths, and weaknesses (for both genders), information which can be used to improve the leadership and management styles in the business world (Boin, Hart, McConnell, & Preston, 2010).

Management, and general leadership, in the business world, is largely male-dominated. The female gender is somewhat discriminated and neglected, with male workers getting promotions regardless of women who are more deserving being present. Women are mostly stuck at assistant and reception levels, as businesses tend to use their beauty for business appeal, without caring about their work skills or competencies. This was the main reason for conducting a study on the leadership competencies of both genders. Various aspects shall be looked into in this paper, aspects such as communication in business, ability to coordinate employees (teamwork), and management skills, these being the main strengths that give the female gender an advantage over the male gender, in leadership. Moreover, women are better at motivating workers at a workplace. This is because they conduct better communication and are excellent at establishing a good relationship with workers, creating a healthy work environment.

Women continue striving and working with dedication, regardless of their past achievements, unlike men, who let their achievements ‘ get to their head’. The success of a company rests on the shoulders of the leader: how they manage the company’s resources such as the workforce and their method of management (De Vries, Bakker-Pieper, & Oostenveld, 2010).

This paper stipulates that a properly set up leadership team, with both men and women, can perform exemplary well in management by combining their strengths and working to beat their weaknesses. It seeks to encourage leadership diversity, as a tool to foster business success. Businesses ought to select leaders based on their competency and skills, irrespective of whether they are male or female (Hansen & Villadsen, 2010).

Therefore, considering the importance of this research and its value, a stepwise method was used so as to ensure that the research findings are logical and can be trusted and that they can be used by businesses that require improved management. As earlier said, after the selection of the topic was done, the main management problem of companies was looked into. Later on, a set of questions will be compiled to find out the solution to the management gender selection dilemma. These questions will be solved using arguments that were properly reviewed, to come up with solutions. All these steps will enable us to reach a research finding, and we shall at that point, reach a conclusion on the topic.

Origin of the Chosen Approach and Motivation Behind it

The approach chosen for putting together this write up is similar to the one used for most research papers. The topic of discussion is the difference in the leadership styles and methods between men and women. These differences shall be studied to come up with a solution to management problems in companies, and other businesses. Currently, the topic of discussion lacks proper research, and companies continue to face the dilemma of whether to choose male or female employees as leaders, to achieve success. The research has to be carried out based on surveys, interviews, and arguments, to come up with data that can be used to support the conclusions made, and abolish assumptions currently existing in the business world.

This approach will ensure that the target readers of this research will clearly understand the topic of discussion, and value its findings with utmost importance. Finally, this research approach will bring to light the problems that most businesses face in the selection of leaders and management teams. This analytical type of approach will assist the readers of this paper to understand how the problems faced by companies (in their leadership) can be solved to enable the companies to select the best leaders, for maximum output and efficiency (Peterson, Walumbwa, Avolio, & Hannah, 2012).

A Table Showing the Various Differences between the Leadership Styles of Men and Women

	Leadership Style	Decision Style	Communication Style	Risk-Taking Style	Inspirational Style	Delegation Style
Women	Interpersonal	Democratic	Indirect	Very prepared to take risks	Occasionally use inspirational motivation	Not likely to delegate tasks
Men	Task-Oriented	Directive	Indirect	Prepared to take risks	Often use inspirational motivation	Delegate tasks

Reasoning Behind the Positives of Having Women Leaders

Leadership needs depend on the environment and the situation since different styles of leadership lead to different results and achievements; therefore, each specific goal, situation, or team might need a certain kind of leader, which is why having both men and women is helpful. As seen in the aforementioned differences between men and women, it is clear that what they can accomplish is very different. In a scenario where a team needs to closely work together and communicate about the goals and needs, a woman would be the best possible leader because of the interpersonal leadership style that most women have adopted; however, if the scenario is one in which only the task matters, a man would do a better job of being straight to the point by being task-oriented. Since women are less likely to delegate, having a woman leader would allow for her boss to know that she is doing the work herself, which means that she is likely putting personal effort into the project.

Examples Where Female Leadership has Given Better Results than Men

With the current trend of women closing the gap in the business world, it is not uncommon to read or hear stories about successful female leaders or about scenarios where a woman did a job that a man had failed to do. Examples of such include the famous Queen Victoria of England, who pushed reforms and was a better leader than many men before her were, and Hillary Clinton, who is often named as the figure that Americans admire the most, because she pushed boundaries never pushed before and was able to make her way in a man’s world.

Examples Where Women are Better Decision Makers and Stress Handlers

In the world of bigger businesses with boards, it is shown that companies with fewer female directors tend to shortchange their investors. The reasoning behind this is that females are more likely to take risks by making decisions that take the interests of many stakeholders into account, while men usually stick to making decisions based on rules and regulations. In any field of professionalism, women tend to be better decision-makers because they are better at making decisions under pressure or when a deadline is close.

Research Questions

The following are the various questions used to get information on the existing differences between the leadership manner of men and women as leaders:

1. Can the existing leadership problems in companies be solved by using both male and female leaders in management?

• Fixing management problems is possible if a proper research on how the strengths of male and female leaders can be incorporated to run companies.

2. Is female leadership able come up with the best ideologies to lead an organization towards success?

• The female gender has no capability to come up with all the ideas that are necessary to guarantee business success, nor is the male gender. Both have to work together towards a common goal.

Research Sources

Various scholarly sources were utilized in this research. The school Digital Library, the internet (Google Scholar articles), and peer-reviewed journals were some of the information sources used. A few critical data and information sources (articles) have been listed below:

723. Boin, A., Hart, P. T., McConnell, A., & Preston, T. (2010). Leadership style, crisis response, and blame management: The case of Hurricane Katrina.Public Administration, 88(3), 706-723.
724. De Vries, R. E., Bakker-Pieper, A., & Oostenveld, W. (2010). Leadership = communication?The relations of leaders’ communication styles with leadership styles, knowledge sharing, and leadership outcomes. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(3), 367–380.
725. Hansen, J. R., & Villadsen, A. R. (2010). Comparing public and private managers’ leadership styles: Understanding the role of job context.International Public Management Journal, 13(3), 247-274.
726. Ahmet, A. V. C. I. (2015). The role of leadership and organizational citizenship behavior in efficientAfrican Journal of Business Management, 9(20), 727-734.
727. Peterson, S. J., Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., & Hannah, S. T. (2012). RETRACTED: The relationship between authentic leadership and follower job performance: The mediating role of follower positivity in extreme contexts.The Leadership Quarterly, 23(3), 502-516.
728. Rafiq Awan, M., & Mahmood, K. (2010). The relationship between leadership style, organizational culture and employee commitment in university libraries.Library Management, 31(4/5), 253-266.
729. Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., & e Cunha, M. P. (2012). Authentic leadership promoting employees’ psychological capital and creativity.Journal of Business Research, 65(3), 429-437.

Reasons for Selection of the Articles

The above articles provided information on the varied leadership approaches of men and women leaders in business. Articles C, D, E, F, and G explain how these leadership approaches differ. Some of the articles listed give scenarios that were looked into while investigating leadership mannerisms. For instance, article C looks at our research problem in the public sector field context and the private sector management. Article F looks at the research problem in the university library management context. The various contexts used by these articles enable us to understand the various functionalities of leaders in different scenarios and capacities, and the various research conclusions availed in the different leadership contexts looked into. Article A provides a context and the various problems and issues faced in that context. It gives details of the problems faced by management and leadership during natural calamities (such as the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina). It, therefore, enables us to study and comprehend the various issues related to firms operating during disasters, and the problems that their leadership should deal with (Boin, Hart, McConnell, & Preston, 2010).

Resources utilized in this research show the various past studies conducted on the leadership topic chosen, and how the researchers addressed the problems found. The articles helped in the creation of a solid foundation and set a way to follow in future research of the leadership problems in question. As such, the above-named information sources were specifically selected as they were the most appropriate sources for this study.

Conclusion

A research that has been properly conducted, in a stepwise and well-presented manner ensures that its readers understand its purpose and its findings without any struggle or requiring explanation. This kind of research also sets a standard for any further research to be conducted in the future. Any research aimed at solving an existing problem has to be carried out scientifically, supported by logic and guided arguments, revisiting any previous research done on the topic, to reach a conclusion or solution for the problem. Through studying and reviewing articles and online journals on leadership, time management, decision making, dealing with stress at the workplace, and leadership skills, there is enough evidence to show that women are good (sometimes better) leaders in business. There is, therefore, need to consolidate the skills of both men and women in leadership, to guarantee the success of any business.

References

Ahmet, A. V. C. I. “The role of leadership and organizational citizenship behavior inefficient management.” African Journal of Business Management, vol. 9, no. 20, 2015, pp. 727-734.

Boin, A., Hart, P. T., McConnell, A., & Preston, T. (2010). Leadership style, crisis response, and  blame management: The case of Hurricane Katrina. Public Administration, Public Administration, vol. 88, no. 3, 2010, pp. 706-723.

Cheryl de la Rey. “Gender, Women and Leadership.” Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, no. 65, 2005, pp. 4–11.

Chris Bart, Gregory McQueen. Why women make better directors. International Journal of  Business Governance and Ethics, vol. 8, no. 1, 2013, pp. 93.

De Vries, R. E., Bakker-Pieper, A., & Oostenveld, W. Leadership = communication? The relations of leaders’ communication styles with leadership styles, knowledge sharing, and    leadership outcomes. Journal of Business and Psychology, vol. 25, no. 3, 2010, pp. 367–        380.

Hansen, J. R., & Villadsen, A. R. Comparing public and private managers’ leadership styles: Understanding the role of job context. International Public Management Journal, vol.13, no. 3, 2010, pp. 247-274.

Lämsä, Anna-Maija, and Teppo Sintonen. “A Discursive Approach to Understanding Women Leaders in Working Life.” Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 34, no. 3/4, 2001, pp. 255–267.

Peterson, S. J., Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., & Hannah, S. T. RETRACTED: The relationship between authentic leadership and follower job performance: The mediating role of follower positivity in extreme contexts. The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 3, 2012, pp. 502-516.

Rafiq Awan, M., & Mahmood, K. The relationship between leadership style, organizational culture and employee commitment in university libraries. Library Management, vol. 31, no. 4&5, 2010, pp. 253-266.

Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., & e Cunha, M. P. Authentic leadership promoting employees’ psychological capital and creativity. Journal of Business Research, vol. 65, no. 3, 2012, pp. 429-437.