On women and female leadership values

Friends,

Last week I wrote about the need to lead society’s boys, especially those without dads. And I promised a few words about girls and women in leadership.

One point is obvious and positive: females have made extraordinary progress over the past half-century. Females consistently graduate at higher rates than males - from high school, college, and now in some graduate school disciplines as well, e.g., law school. While we often question our ability as a society to make significant and positive change, it seems worth acknowledging this huge societal progress. The edgy line from the Virginia Slims cigarette commercial is more true than ever: “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

What’s almost more amazing than the rise of women is the rise of what I would describe as female leadership values and style. Women have brought with them values of inclusion, compromise, compassion and relationship - not to mention the focus on the family itself - as they have moved from the world of family to the world of W-2s and 1099s. Many authoritarian structures in business, church, academia and the law have been taken apart (or at least eroded) by female leadership values. The leadership field itself has been filled with the importance of values that would traditionally have been seen as more feminine. These are just a few of the most popular ideas, and they are all driven by the rise of female thought: crucial conversations, emotional intelligence, servant leadership, getting to yes, great companies to work for, and encouraging the heart. All of these concepts stress relationships and echo the work of feminist writers and . . . moms.

Last week the Episcopal church in America became the first American church to elect a woman as its leader. Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schorri takes the helm of a church in danger of schism. And in characteristic female tone said, “I will bend over backward to build relationships with people who disagree with me.”

There is a distance yet to go to afford women full opportunity and justice when it comes to leadership and equal pay. We need to keep at it, for them, and for all of us. For in a world threatened with extremism, violence, and separation, we have so much more to learn about the enduring power and tremendous potential of female leadership. Whether you are a man or a woman, I would suggest that it is vital to embrace these female values if you are to…
Lead with their best self,

Dan