Are Women Better in Leaders than Men ?

Would you like to be led by an all-women team? What is it like to be a woman leader in a man's world? A huge risk is attached to undertaking leadership positions when you're a woman, because you are judged on the basis of prejudice – prejudice linked to your gender. We are going to look at what it takes to be a woman who leads. There might be lessons in it for men too. The picture that made headlines around the world: some of the leaders of Finland's new coalition government, notable for their gender and the way this informs their policy and leadership. All five leaders were women. All but one were under the age of 35 when they took power in December 2019. Sanna Marin, at the age of 34, became Finland's youngest ever Prime Minister. Finland has a record of leading when it comes to women's rights: the first country in the world to give full voting rights to women, and one used to females in positions of power. The women say there are pitfalls to having an all-female team. What we want is not to reproduce the excluding structures that men have used, as women, but really, kind of, to change those structures. And there have been disagreements between the leaders, but Finland won praise for its early handling of the coronavirus pandemic, like some other female-led countries, And the government is pushing an ambitious equality programme, that gives greater rights to trans people, encourages parents to share caring responsibilities and closes the gender pay gap. So, what does Finland's example tell us about female leadership in a man's world? All women in the 'Finnish Five' coalition have, kind of, experiential understanding of, you know, exclusion and marginalization and living in hardship. And I think that also makes them, you know, understand, care and value it more, as well as inclusion and solidarity. The Finnish leaders put care at the heart of the decisions they make and goals they set. But actually working towards that goal involves perseverance, and working through differences, and working through conflict, and trying to find a way around and through all these differences, like political affiliation or beliefs or, you know, your stances and so on. So, I think women are experientially made to, kind of, work in that way from their early age and they don't just give up on the first hurdle but, you know, persevere. The Finnish leaders have different political beliefs, but they persevere to work through their differences together. A huge risk is attached to undertaking leadership positions when you're a woman, because you are judged on the basis of prejudice – prejudice linked to your gender. So, if Finnish Five, for example, was to fail for any reason, you know, or misdelivered on the promises that they made, they would probably be judged, you know, harsher than their male counterparts – by politicians or media or their electorate. So, women leaders are judged more harshly than male leaders. They face prejudice because of their gender. Is that fair? The pandemic, or financial crisis, or climate crisis: they're... they are making it obvious that this kind of inclusive, caring leadership is something that we require in order to get through. And I think that's what propelled... that is exactly what propelled this kind of – traditionally understood – this feminine leadership forward. And I can see, you know, it being applied widely in the future. So, the leadership qualities traditionally associated with women, such as caring for others and working together, have proven successful in tackling global crises. Meggie Palmer started life as a journalist, but realized she had a different story to tell. Women across the world are generally paid less than men and don't hold as many top jobs in companies. Meggie decided to do something about that, so she set up PepTalkHer. It coaches women on getting fair pay and pushes for gender balance in senior positions. Its aim is to end the pay gap and help women become the leaders they want to be. So, I've had some really positive experiences as a woman in leadership: I've had a lot of men and women who've sponsored me to get into more senior roles in the workforce. I've also had some really negative experiences in the workplace, with inappropriate behavior, being spoken to differently and being treated differently, purely because of my gender. Meggie Palmer has had positive and negative experiences. She has been supported to reach senior positions, but she has also been treated differently to her male colleagues. I had an experience of pay inequality in my career: I found out that I was being paid less and had different terms and conditions to my employment, when compared to my male colleagues. This didn't seem fair to me, so I raised it with the bosses and they said to me: 'Meggie, if you don't like it, you can quit or you can take us to court.' Now, this is a few years ago, so I hope that things have changed somewhat. Although, what we know is that the gender pay gap still exists all around the world – still to this day. Meggie had her own experiences of being paid less than her male counterparts – pay inequality – and wanted to do something about it. Being the only person anywhere is lonely, right? If you're the only person of color, if you're the only woman, it's... it can be lonely, and so... you know, that's what women leaders tell me – that it is lonely and I've... you know, I sit on some not-for-profit boards and I've had the experience as well of... of raising issues, particularly that pertain to women, and just getting crickets from all the men on the board, right? And I would get a little bit of support, maybe, from one of the other female board members, but we were outnumbered. And so, when you're outnumbered, it's really hard to create that change, right? And so, it's frustrating but it's something that we need to continue to talk about. We have to keep amplifying this issue. Meggie knows what it is like to be one of the only women in the boardroom. Women leaders can often feel isolated. So, when we think about whose responsibility is it to improve these situations, really, it's all of our responsibilities. This is not a problem just for women to solve; this is not a problem just for leadership to solve; this is a problem for all of us to solve. When you are in middle management and you are hiring, you have the ability to say: 'I want to make sure that I'm interviewing male and female candidates.' Right? When you are interviewing for jobs, you can actively ask: 'What are the policies here to encourage diversity amongst the team?' Meggie says change is everyone's responsibility. Everyone, at whatever level, should ask the questions that will lead to more equality in the workplace. So, we know that when there are women in leadership, companies perform better. We know that women-led start-ups return a higher return on investment to investors, than teams of start-ups that just have men in leadership. We know when we're looking at larger businesses, when there are women in the c-suite, the net profit of that business goes up. When we have women in leadership, what we find is the decision-making process is more robust and more effective. Research shows that companies that have women in leadership roles perform better. So, what have we learnt about women in leadership? They face more judgment and risk to their reputations, but they're likely to prioritize care and compassion in decision-making and they can make businesses and governments more effective.