Women leaders are relatively formal and democratic, encouraging participation and output appreciation compared to their male counterparts who tend to be autocratic and direct (Psychology Matters, 2006). In today’s competitive environment, women leaders are in demand to hone several positive qualities to gain an edge. “The most charismatic leader is the most successful, most respected, and most loved of all leaders” (Allen, 2011). There is no measurement or perspective of charisma. It cannot be taught. Charisma is an intangible energy that attracts others; it is likability. A charismatic leader always has followers because they are well-liked and because followers choose to be part of their team, they are not forced to be part of their team. These traits of charismatic leaders include vision and expression, personal risk taking, sensitivity to followers’ needs, and unconventional behavior (Robbins & Judge, 2008).
Indeed, a charismatic leader has a long-term objective or vision, as well as a strategy to get there. This serves to guide subordinates in the direction they can go. However, risks must often be taken with a high cost that may involve personal sacrifices. Such behavior appears to enhance and build self-esteem and confidence in their team. A charismatic leader recognizes their employees and their abilities. In addition to focusing on being sensitive to their employees’ needs and feelings, they will also accept what Robbins and Judge say about charismatic leaders (2008). Finally, the new behaviors that charismatic leaders have to display show courage and conviction, which increases dedication among their staff members (Mladkova, 2012).
In addition, they say that charismatic leaders also carry with them wisdom, communication skills, humility, essence and compassion (Basu, 2012). These qualities enable such leaders to attract people and motivate them to work for the greater good and thus succeed. Such leaders affect change and transform the overall success of their organization. Their optimism is their respected quality. Often, such leaders are said to be servants of those who follow them. Since women leaders will take advantage of this, they can become charismatic leaders themselves.
Profile Of Women Leaders
Qualities in both anatomy and psychology define what makes a woman a good leader (Helgeson, 2012). For example, with regard to the significant differences between the characteristics of women as leaders and the characteristics of women as promiscuous, Schneider and Bos state, “Women leaders differ significantly from women as a whole” (2011). Confident women leaders value their relationships highly. They excel at using direct communication. Successful women leaders are comfortable working in a diverse workforce and can identify the potential of a diverse group. Women leaders usually do not compartmentalize their work, which helps expand their scope of insight on the work environment. Women leaders rarely work with hierarchical types of management styles, preferring to lead from the center of the organization. Ultimately, these leaders often see the big picture and understand the steps needed to achieve reasonable goals (Chin, 2007; Helgeson, 2012). They also cite compassion, humility, patience, and strength as other key characteristics (Folta et al., 2012).
In the words of several female authors, “women often have a different attitude towards power than men” (Prigent, 2011). In her definition of women in relation to their attitude, Helsebo (1987) defined women as “able to exercise power in a more creative way, better organize human resources, encourage creativity and change hierarchical structures” (Prigent, 2011).
Such leaders continue to look beyond the boundaries of normal traditional acts and settings (Budrina, 2012). This highlights the fact that all female manager leaders must first work on the managerial culture. Certain characteristics have greater power of association with women than with men. For example, women show more communal traits that reflect concern for other people’s welfare (e.g. “affectionate, helpful, kind, empathetic, sensitive in terms of interpersonal relationships, nurturing and gentle”), whereas men show more agentic traits that reflect an assertive, controlling and self-confident tendency (e.g. “aggressive, ambitious, dominant, forceful, independent, courageous, self-confident and competitive”).
In other words, agentic behaviour may include speaking up assertively, competing for attention, exerting influence on others, getting involved in activities for assigned tasks and proposing suggestions focused on resolving problems (Eagly & Johanson-Schmidt, 2001). Communal behaviour may include: speaking up extemporaneously; not drawing attention to oneself; accepting instructions from others; comforting other people; and contributing to the resolution of problems related to relationships between individuals.
It is not surprising that women are not seen as potential candidates for leadership positions because these positions have an impenetrable barrier in the form of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, when women do choose the leadership path despite such barriers, a number of other reasons exist that are likely to devalue the value of their performance. If women are seen as less suitable for managerial stereotypes than men, they will be seen as less effective agents. As a result, when women perform valuable work, it may not receive recognition because their achievements are attributed to external factors (Kulich et al., 2007).
Radovic Markovic (2011) mentions the following barriers for women:
• Tradition and patriarchal attitudes;
• Budget restrictions affecting health care, educational benefits, the right to maternity leave, child care and retirement benefits;
• Role conflicts between family and work responsibilities;
• Women are constantly undervalued because many companies do not accept that women can perform as well as men;
There is also a perception that equal rights do not mean that women appreciate the obligation to fit work and home into family life. Most working women may not choose equality first but fulfilment in both. There is a need to compare objectively, which shows that some women experience more career vs. family conflict than others, and all need to learn to find a balance. The increased balance introduced by women leaders results in healthier businesses and happier families (McMillion, 2012).
Conclusion
Women’s inequality in the workplace remains a global issue, but progress is being made in the Western world. Women’s leadership is now on the rise and is becoming as successful as men’s. Still, women leaders need to understand their difficulties and critically analyze their management styles in order to advance in business. One way to become a successful female leader is to look at the history of inequality, understand what qualities a charismatic leader should have, and identify the profile of a female leader.
In the present paper, we discussed some of the main issues in the literature on women leaders in detail. The emphasis was on the specific qualities of women leaders who are working hard to prove their lanes of equal opportunities to become successful leaders. However, in relation to the literature studied, an important consideration needs to be made about the transformational differences that may or may not be considered effective in making a successful leader between both men and women. Future studies can take those concerns into account in different contexts by looking at those differences and similarities. In addition, further exploration of the specific attributes considered is needed to gain more insight into the attitudes and mechanisms that influence the success of women leaders.
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