Female leadership: changing business for the better

Workplaces today use more direct communication and less hierarchy. Women helped effect this change.

from the January 17, 2008 edition

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These women placed a high value on relationships and judged the success of their organizations based on the quality of relationships within them.

They preferred direct communication to communication up and down a chain of command.

They were comfortable with diversity, having been outsiders themselves and knowing in their bones what kind of value fresh eyes could bring.

They were unwilling (as well as unable) to compartmentalize their lives and so could draw upon personal experience to bring private-sphere information and insights to their jobs.

They were skeptical of hierarchies and surprisingly disdainful of the kinds of perks and privileges that distinguish hierarchical leaders and establish their place in the pecking order.

They preferred leading from the center rather than the top and structured their organizations to reflect this.

Finally, they were willing to ask big-picture questions about the work they were doing and its value for the world.

New skills for a changing workplace

My book struck a chord, eliciting a response from women around the world and remaining in print for nearly two decades and counting. But what has been extraordinary for me is to watch how the skills exhibited by the women leaders I studied have become more appropriate – and desirable – in today's workplace.

Networked technologies, the evolution of a knowledge economy, and the demographics of globalization all support precisely the skills, talents, and presumptions that women bring to organizations.

When "The Female Advantage" was published, relationship-building was considered a soft skill that a leader, who had to be tough, could not afford. Yet in recent years, as organizations have sought to connect more directly with customers and stakeholders and motivate valuable employees, an ability to nurture strong relationships has become essential.

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