Women's Leadership Style

Much research and many articles written during the past 40 years have looked at male and female leaders’ behaviors and management styles. When people describe a successful leader, they often use the same adjectives used to describe a man. Virginia Schein, professor at Gettysburg College, looked at these issues in the mid-1970s. She and her colleagues continued similar research in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, looking from a global perspective at perceptions of men, women, and successful managers in the workplace. In the countries studied, most men viewed men and successful managers as similar. However, women’s results varied by country. Some women viewed men, women, and managers as similar. Women in other countries still viewed men and successful managers as more similar. This is significant for women seeking to add an international assignment to their resume.

Because the business world was generally established by men, the concepts that describe a successful manager are those that describe men and men’s interactions. Women entered the work-world picture late in the game and came into a world already established by men with men’s rules of engagement. For women to succeed, they essentially had to play by the existing rules the men’s rules, also referred to as the “old-boy network.”

Over the years women, have introduced their own style of management. Yet they are often still compared to and judged by the masculine leadership style, which many consider to be the “right style,” the style of a “true” leader. Even as organizations create programs to support and develop women leaders, the stereotypes, expectations, and socialization often get in the way of a woman’s success.

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