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

Page 3 of 3

Page 1 | Page 2 | 3

Technology today not only facilitates but demands direct communication, an advantage for those who are comfortable doing so. Networked technologies also undermine hierarchies, a plus for those who enjoy leading from the center rather than the top.

In a global economy, comfort with diversity has become essential. As work and home become harder to separate in our 24/7 workplace, compartmentalizing becomes a liability.

No more Mr. Tough Guy

Twenty years ago, anyone attending a business conference was likely to hear a speaker observe – without irony – that "unless you're the lead horse, the view never changes." Today, no one would say this.

Twenty years ago, Fortune magazine featured "America's Toughest Boss" in a recurring cover story. It lauded the leader who was tough enough to crack heads, which, of course, was presumed necessary to get things done. This kind of feature has long since been dropped.

The tough-guy approach to leadership is in disrepute these days, with successive tyrants and bullies having come in for censure. Even the most ruthless organizations today feel compelled to put out statements about how they value relationships and support diversity.

Companies compete to take a greener, more holistic approach. They recognize that the "get while the getting's good" mentality that distinguished the industrial era is unsustainable in today's more interconnected world. Leaders emphasize sustainability and contribution and they acknowledge the need to nurture the human spirit. Inclusive has become a buzzword, weblike a simple description of how things work.

And so female-leadership characteristics that just 18 years ago seemed far outside the mainstream are now seen as desirable.

In retrospect, it seems ridiculous that we could have imagined that one half of the human race, excluded from positions of leadership for most of human history, could enter the public sphere and begin to reach positions of real authority and influence without having a significant impact on how organizations were led.

As individuals, women may experience ups and downs over the course of their careers. But the influence they have had on which leadership qualities are valued has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Sally Helgesen is the author of five books, including "The Female Advantage" and "The Web of Inclusion." A contributing editor to Strategy + Business magazine, she speaks at companies around the world on leadership and is a strategic communications adviser to senior executives and entrepreneurs.

1 | 2 | Page 3