Sweet smell of success for women executives

THE future of leadership is female – so does this mean that the smell of the executive washroom is going to change from sweaty jock straps to Chanel No 5?

Possibly not, but research is showing that the leadership behaviours that are driving longterm performance are more naturally part of a woman’s leadership style.

The Women 2 McKinsey report shows that companies that practice these leadership behaviours and embrace gender diversity show a positive organisational performance of more than twice those who do not.

Of the nine leadership behaviours defined by the study, women were found to apply five more frequently than men. These included people development, expectations and rewards, role modelling, inspiration and participative decision-making.

Intellectual stimulation and communication effectiveness were found to be similar among genders, while individualistic decision-making, control and corrective action were applied more frequently by men.

The impact of these behaviours on organisational performance includes the ability to build participative and inclusive teams, and to lead by example.

Role modelling focuses on building values, respect and an understanding which connects teams to the deeper purpose and ethical consequences of decisions.

By listening to employees – mentoring, coaching, personal development and performance conversations have clearly defined expectations and rewarding of achievement.

These lead to higher levels of motivation, accountability and generative behaviour, which releases the leader to focus on leading rather than micromanaging.

While these behaviours may come more naturally to women, they are certainly not exclusively female traits and may have as much to do with environmental conditioning as biology.

Women in business still represent a minority of top management positions and have felt the pressure to behave more like men to survive the corporate shark-tank rather than embracing their inherent strengths.

Level five leaders demonstrate a paradoxical blend between personal humility and professional will, according to Jim Collins.

John Maxwell defines level five leaders as those who are followed because of who they are and what they represent.

So what can companies do to increase these leadership behaviours in their leadership culture?

Build gender diversity into your talent strategy with personalised career paths; Recruit leaders that demonstrate these behaviours; Provide a family-friendly workplace that supports flexible and remote work, appraisal systems that are gender neutral and promotion paths that support the full spectrum of leadership behaviours; and

ý Put mentoring and coaching programmes in place that develop both men and women in these critical behaviours and permeate your culture with the conversations that encourage them throughout the organisation.

The key to organisational success is to balance the nine behaviours for the best organisational outcome.

It also suggests the motivation for recruiting women leaders is as much about crafting your competitive advantage as it is about levelling the playing fields. It makes business sense.

So maybe it is time to install a unisex executive washroom where both men and women can contribute their strengths to build a better business. Oh, and some Chanel No 5 would be nice. Build gender diversity into your talent strategy with personalised career paths; Recruit leaders that demonstrate these behaviours; Provide a family-friendly workplace that supports flexible and remote work, appraisal systems that are gender neutral and promotion paths that support the full spectrum of leadership behaviours; and Put mentoring and coaching programmes in place that develop both men and women in these critical behaviours and permeate your culture with the conversations that encourage them throughout the organisation.

The key to organisational success is to balance the nine behaviours for the best organisational outcome.

It also suggests the motivation for recruiting women leaders is as much about crafting your competitive advantage as it is about levelling the playing fields. It makes business sense.

So maybe it is time to install a unisex executive washroom where both men and women can contribute their strengths to build a better business. Oh, and some Chanel No 5 would be nice.