Women and Leadership

Abstract

Leaders exist at all levels in organizations and based on the data collected in our survey it appears that while women hold leadership positions they are under represented at the most senior levels. Recent research by Lord Davies indicates that nearly 50 percent of FTSE 250 companies do not have a woman on the board. In our research there was a definite feeling from over 60 percent of our respondents that men still have a better deal when it comes to getting into senior leadership positions. Like the Davies report, we found that lack of access to powerful informal networks was cited as one of the key reasons for this together with the ever-present issue of being a working mother. In addition to this many women felt that their leadership style was not valued or regarded as not tough enough for top leadership. The focus of this chapter will be on leadership style and will make some suggestions about how women could better prepare themselves for

I am a coaching style of leader and I want team members to experiment and try out new ideas but I’m also very results oriented – I’m not soft.