不確実な世界における女性と新たなリーダーシップ 

Women and New Leadership in an Unstable World

In today’s volatile times, leadership is becoming increasingly important. In this article, I would like to summarize my thoughts on the nature of leadership from the perspective of women.

The Dilemma for Women Leaders

The first thing people think about leadership is someone who leads people bravely, like a warlord, for instance: strong, aggressive, and sometimes intimidating. How would the qualities we tend to see in these types of leaders apply to women? Perhaps, the traits generally considers to be desirable for women are almost opposite. A research conducted by Professor Rudman and her colleagues at Rutgers University in the United States has shown that the desirable traits for women are kindness, care for others, etc., which can be observed more often for lower positions. ^＊1

Obviously, it depends on the culture and the nature of each individual, but we can agree to some extent that there is a gap between ideal leadership and the qualities expected of women. In my personal experience, when I treated my subordinates in the same manner as a man while leading a team at work, I was regarded as “a man on the inside”. They may not have meant any offense, but there was no welcoming atmosphere for a strong female leader. On the other hand, if I cared too much about those around me, my leadership would be seen as weak. This is a unique dilemma for women moving up in their careers.

^＊1 Laurie A. Rudman, Moss-Racusin, Phelan and Nauts, “Status incongruity and backlash effects: Defending the gender hierarchy motivates prejudice against female leaders”, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol.48, No.1, January 2012, pp.165-179.

The New Leadership

These days, however, the ideal leadership itself is changing. According to Professor Linda Hill at Harvard Business School, the traditional top-down command-and-control leadership would hit a limit when pursuing innovation, which requires leaders to shepherd their team members from behind to maximize the power of diverse teams. ^＊2

In my current consulting work for enterprise clients engaged in HR and organizational transformation, I have noticed that many organizations are looking for a new leadership style that replaces the existing one. In particular, I feel that there is a growing interest in leaders who are not dogmatic but are skilled in people management to create innovation. There is a growing need to understand team members’ motivation, rather than simply imposing predetermined goals with the top-down approach. As a result, it is often argued that the qualities required for this new leadership are similar to characteristics originally expected for women and that women can become leaders just as they are.

^＊2 Linda A. Hill, “Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation”, Harvard Business School Press, June 2014.

Empathetic Leadership Under Pandemic

I would like to share an event that made me personally realize the above assertion.

In Japan, the spread of the new coronavirus began in late February, and the company I work for decided to implement remote work for all employees at an early stage. In our company, it is not unusual for us to work remotely, but it was the first time that everyone was working from home every day.

The hardest part for me was having a child at home with nowhere to go as the schools were closed. My husband was working overseas at the time and it was unlikely that he could return home. So I was struggling on my own without seeing my elderly parents nor close friends from the fear of the infection risk.

In this uncertainty, I was encouraged by messages from the top management of the company. “Our top priority is the health of our employees and their families” was repeatedly emphasized by the Global CEO, Asia CEO, and CEO in Japan. They also frequently communicated the company policies and work rules in detail. Coincidentally, the three CEOs were all women. One of them included her cell phone number in every message, encouraging employees to call her whenever someone needed help. While the other shared photos and her struggles with her children’s school closings and remote work.

Their attitude was more than just commanding “don’t let this goal die”; they were empathetic to each team member’s situation while clearly demonstrating important values. Of course, some male leaders may also exhibit this type of behavior, but these actions by female CEOs were very natural and warm, and I felt that they were close to me. I was genuinely motivated and impressed by the fact that this may be the new leadership model.

Under the pandemic, the success of women leaders in politics attracted a lot of attention, but I think there is something in common with the business world as well. I believe the following three leadership elements are needed in today’s world.

– Encourage open and transparent dialogue.

– Disclose the real you, including your vulnerabilities.

– Focus on values, not just the achievement of goals.

The anomalies associated with the pandemic will continue to persist. Because of this, I believe that the above elements, seemingly to have an affinity for the inherent characteristics of women, are key to motivating and inspiring people. I hope that many new leaders will emerge with the intention to create a modernized image of leadership.

Source: IE Business School IE Women Blog (December 4^th, 2020)