In a recent article, I wrote that too often women are blaming men for the gender gap or for not being in the roles they want to be in. I know that there are still some oppressive or old-fashioned thoughts about women’s roles versus men’s roles. We can’t change old mindsets, but we can change ours, which is why I’m writing about what makes a great female leader and the 9 behaviors to master because this stuff is important to know and live.
When it comes to being a great leader and an advocate for closing the gender gap, our aim should be in leveraging the opportunities in front of us to position ourselves for leadership.
Here is what I mean; I recently explored a study conducted by The McKinsey Global Institute that proves that there are 9 leadership behaviors critical for the success of any organization.
- People development
- Creating expectations and reward systems
- Role modeling
- Inspiration
- Participative decision making
- Effective communication
- Intellectual stimulation
- Control and corrective action
- Individualistic decision making
In my recent blog post titled, Ladies–How About We Stop Blaming Men and Own Our Worth? I mentioned that the study points out that out of the 9 critical behaviors of leadership, women apply 5 of them more often than men and they are:
The fact that women typically excel in these five behaviors is what we should leverage and develop. Actually, we should all lead from those areas. It doesn’t mean that we ignore the other four; it means to explore where we are strong. Why not carve out a cultural shift toward recognizing that what was true about women advancement in the past doesn’t have to be true any longer?
It’s up to us ladies, to stop the blaming and start leading!
I invite you to consider stepping into the opportunities with optimism and lead from a place of confidence, vulnerability, collaboration and decisiveness.
Are you ready to change the corporate conversation?
Discover if coaching is the next step for you–let me know. Send me a quick note and let’s have a conversation; I’m happy to help. http://maricarmenpizarro.com/contact-mari-carmen/
