The Power of Gender In Effective Leadership Essay

The Power of Gender In Effective Leadership - Essay Example According to Business Week women have been identified to have the â€Å"right stuff† (Sharp, 2002). We are living in a society that is now focusing more on mental power rather than physical might. This is because previously, male dominated leadership position as their masculinity was seen as a form of power. The sentiments in the articles represent the postmodern views which are contrary to previous articles on leadership which illustrated that gender has no effect on gender. The issue of gender was created in the 1970s by some feminist and has been used to show the difference between male or female. It has been recognized as a social construct of what consist of maleness and femaleness. The feminist tried to show that men and women have their unique identities and this influences the way they relate to different issues in the social construct. It was also aimed at showing the there existed biological differences between men and women and this affects the way they relate to ea ch other. According pot social scientist, gender is a construct that forms the basis of every social order. The perception of gender differs across different organizations (Duerst-Lahti, n.d: 19). There are some organizations which have set apart some position for the female gender while others are preserved for the male gender alone. The inclusion of women in the managerial positions also reflects the changes that are currently taking place in management place. There is the erosion of managerial hierarchy with the manager gaining the role of a coach unlike in previous leadership model where they were expected to exercise authority. Moreover, leaders are encouraged to empower, engage and support workers. These changes give women an advantage in... This paper stresses that The society perspective on female leadership has also changed with female leaders perceived as playing a representational role. Women perspectives on leadership roles have also changed. Research on university female students indicate that more female aspire to take up challenging jobs and powerful positions. Moreover, leadership roles have changed. While previously power in leadership was associated with masculinity, today effective leadership is based on the ability to work through the subordinate staff by inspiring them and not commanding them. The aurhor talks that current leadership model requires the leaders to communicate more with the employ and make them understand why a certain role should be performed in this way and not the other. It also requires leaders who are able to listen and understand the needs of the employees. Women are biologically wired to behave this way. This report makes a conclusion that it can be observed that the increase of the representation of female in managerial and board position is a way of empowering the female gender and giving them representational role. Moreover, it increases diversity which improves the quality of the decision making process. Having female on the board is a good thing as it has been associated with greater company performance in terms of profitability as shown in the findings. This gives a company a greater competitive edge that crucial for survival in the current highly competitive business climate.