Do women need to act like men to succeed at work?
That was the leading question of a press release sent to Women’s Agenda this week, and it certainly got our attention.
Our immediate thought is, absolutely not! But we’re willing to take a look at the research the press release is promoting, in order to see if data can offer a different answer.
The research comes from leadership development consultancy Development Dimensions International, and identifies some differences between men and women to make the case for workplace gender diversity
Their overall findings are based on two separate studies: the first being Ready-Now Leaders: Cultivating Women in Leadership to Meet Tomorrow’s Business Challenges, which finds confidence is one of the few leadership differences between men and women.
The second is the High-Resolution Leadership study, which looked at ‘assessment data’ from 10,000 leaders globally and found no difference in leadership skills between men and women – indicating both genders are equally qualified to be business drivers.
So back to that question, do women need to act like men?
According to DDI CEO Tacy Byham, the answer is no – except when it comes to confidence. She says women can do more to be their own advocate. It’s not about acting more like a man or a woman but rather about “becoming a best-ever version of yourself”.
She says that with this mindset, our own behaviours will change and our impact is strengthened, ultimately improving our opportunity to get the next job, promotion or opportunity.
What do you think? Take a look at four of the key take-outs from the two DDI studies and let us know.
As provided by DDI:
1. Women are less confident and less likely to rate themselves as highly effective leaders compared to men. Men highly self-rate their own leadership skills and their ability to tackle management and business challenges.
Only 30% of women rate themselves in the top 10 percent of leaders, in comparison to 37 percent of men. At the senior level, 63 percent of men rate themselves as highly-effective leaders compared to only 49 percent of women. Women were less likely to have completed international assignments, to have led across countries or geographically dispersed teams, all of which make up important development opportunities. Leaders who had access to global and more visible experiences are more likely to advance.
Business drivers examined include: Building high-performance cultures; engaging employees; cultivating a customer-focused culture; creating alignment and accountability; enhancing organisational talent; building strategic partnerships and relationships, driving process innovation and driving efficiency.
3: Considerable personality gaps exist between the sexes in inquisitiveness, sensitivity and impulsiveness.
The research shows that men are 16 percent more inquisitive than women, possibly due to their tendency to gravitate towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers that reinforce inquiry. Women are interpersonally more sensitive than men (13 percent more), which can be an advantage in cultures where leaders are valued for demeanor and interactions with others. Men also score as more impulsive than women (11 percent more) which could result from the reinforced “just do it” attitude where women are nurtured with the outlook “don’t do it unless you can do it right.”
4. Organisations with a greater percentage of women in leadership roles perform better financially.
Organisations in the top 20 percent of financial performers have 37 percent of their leaders as women. “When it comes to leadership, gender shouldn’t be an issue, but it is—a business issue,” said Byham. “Encouraging gender diversity in leadership ranks leads to more diversity of thought prompting improved problem solving and increased business benefits.” Organisations with women in at least 30 percent of leadership roles are 12 times more likely to be in the top 20 percent of financial performers. Organisations in the bottom 20 percent have only 19 percent of their leaders as women.