Women Can’t Win Anywhere
Is inspiring others the most important characteristic of leaders? People in the U.S. and England think so, but in the same survey they ranked women as less adept at this than men. In Nordic countries women were seen as being inspirational, but in these countries “delegating” rated higher in importance for leaders and women were not seen as good at delegating.
These findings are from a survey of 935 alumni of the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland. The survey was conducted by Catalyst, an organization that studies women in the workplace. As might be expected, the conception of an ideal leader varied from place to place. In some areas, a team builder was seen as ideal while in others, problem solvers ranked the highest. However, whatever trait was most valued, women were seen as lacking it! The survey was cited in a recent article by Lisa Belkin, “The Feminine Critique,” in The New York Times.