Who Leads Better, Men or Women?

Does one sex have a leadership advantage?

This is a very complex issue. If we look around at the sheer number of men and women in high-level leadership positions, we would think that men have a clear advantage. But it simply isn’t so. It is harder for women to attain many leadership positions because of negative stereotypes, outright discrimination, and obstacles that women, but not men, must face. Psychologist and gender expert, Alice Eagly16,17, refers to this as the “labyrinth” that women must go through that most men avoid.

Studies of the behaviors and styles of high-level leaders suggest that there are few differences in how male and female leaders act, but this may occur because only women who exhibit the same sorts of leadership styles and behaviors as male leaders make it through the “labyrinth.” So, studying leaders at the top, gives the impression that there are no big differences in how men and women lead.

You get a somewhat different picture if you ask followers and leaders about male and female leaders. They notice differences that are in line with stereotypes about men and women, reporting that female leaders are more nurturing, empathic, and responsive than male leaders, but they will also report the negative side (e.g., moody). Male leaders, on the other hand, are perceived to be more action-oriented and more focused on tasks. As a Catalyst study concludes that according to leaders and followers in the workplace, “women leaders take care, men leaders take charge.” Realize, however, that this involves people’s perceptions of leaders, colored by stereotypes and expectations.

Finally, there is a growing body of research that has studied the leadership styles and leadership “potential” of men and women, typically men and women managers (but also women in non-managerial positions). For example, using the theory of transformational leadership as an indicator of successful leadership (recall that transformational leaders are inspirational, positive role models, concerned about followers, empowering, and push followers to be creative and take chances), research shows that women, as a group, have more transformational qualities than men16. In other words, and based on this research, women have more leadership potential and tend to lead more effectively than men. But, again, it is quite complex.

For Development: As noted, issues of gender and leadership are quite important and quite complex. A wise leader should be fully informed, however, about these issues. We will discuss gender and leadership in more depth later. In addition, resources for learning more about gender and leadership are in the reference section. Check some of them out.