As
indicated by a number of recently published studies, companies that have more
gender diversity on their executive teams are more likely to experience
above-average profitability. One study, in fact, found that companies with more
women executives out-performed their less diverse peers by 21%. (McKinsey &
Company, Delivering
through Diversity)
Yet,
oddly, according to a Catalyst research paper, Women in S&P 500 Companies, although women are 44% of the
overall S&P 500 labor force, and 36% of first or mid-level managers in
those companies, they represent only 25% of executives and senior-level
officials and managers, hold only 20% of board seats, and are only 6% of CEOs.
Clearly, these companies are remiss in harnessing the power of women at the
helm.
What
is it about women and the way they lead that helps accelerate organizational
performance? How does their approach differ from and complement that of male
leaders? And how can companies get better at leveraging the full range of
diversity – gender, ethnicity, personality, skills, approach – to create the
balanced organization and culture that will lead to and sustain success?
A
Lumina Learning white
paper published earlier this month had some interesting answers to these
questions. (Lumina Learning is a global provider of psychometric assessments in
personality and leadership).
Lumina
Learning’s Lumina Spark assessment, based on the Big 5 Personality Traits,
looks at 24 qualities that are a part of everyone’s personality, qualities like competitive, collaborative, empathetic, reliable, practical, imaginative, and others. We each have all 24 qualities to different degrees,
which make us the complex, unique individuals we are.
Using
a large global sample of Lumina Spark assessments, Lumina’s research found that
while there are many similarities between genders, there are some specific areas
where they differ.
When
looking at Lumina’s 24 personality qualities, men score higher on the three outcome focused qualities of
competitive, tough, and logical. Women, on the other hand, score higher within
the people focused area on the
quality empathetic. Empathy has been called by many the critical skill for the
21st Century. Leaders Eat Last
author Simon Sinek says, “true leadership is about empowering others to achieve
things they didn’t think possible. Exceptional organizations prioritize the
well-being of their people and, in return, their people give everything they’ve
got to protect and advance the well-being of one another and the
organization.” Take care of your
people, and the people will take care of the business. That’s where empathy
comes in.
Lumina
also compared gender leadership effectiveness through 360 performance feedback
from the leaders and work colleagues of study participants. In this comparison,
women rated significantly better than men on the majority of 16 effective
competencies across Lumina’s four leadership domains – Leading with Vision, Leading
to Deliver, Leading through People,
and Leading with Drive. Competencies
where the differences (women rating higher) were statistically significant
include: Passion for Learning, Inspires and Engages Others, Planning and
Follow-Through, Interpersonally Astute, Coaches and Develops Others, Win-Win
Partnering, Strives for Excellence, and Provides Clear Direction.
Lumina
also compared how men and women respond under stress, when their strengths may
turn into “too much of a good thing.” Examples of this are Passion for Learning
turning into Addicted to Learning, Provides Clear Direction turning into
Autocrat, and Calm Under Pressure turning into Appears Disengaged. In this
comparison, men rated significantly higher on 10 of the 16 “overextended”
competencies.
The third area of comparison was across 16 emotional
qualities. Examples of these are: Regard for Others, Expresses Emotions,
Confident, Modest, Even-Tempered. The study noted that, “women are generally
more modest and responsive to stress than their male counterparts.” Higher
levels of modesty and responsiveness reveal themselves in leaders who are more
humble and unassuming with the ability to act with urgency under pressure.
Although men have higher confidence, on average, “if this is overplayed, it can
show up in leaders as inflated egos who appear unconcerned about the people and
business at hand.”
The lesson in all of this is that women have
significant strengths to contribute to organizational leadership and success
that for too long have been ignored or under-utilized. It’s time to begin
harnessing that power by giving women more opportunities at the helm.
One organization that is taking direct action
to provide women with more leadership opportunities is Havas Group. Havas
recently launched Femmes
Forward, an accelerator program utilizing Lumina Spark and designed
to prepare high-potential female employees at Havas to advance their careers at
a faster pace. Read more about their program here.
Lead on,
Rebecca
