Who Makes a Better Manager?

This topic isn’t new, however. Michael Fitzgerald, writing for Smart Planet sister site BNET, covered it last year with his article “Women make better managers than men.” In the article, he notes complementary skills for male managers. Fitzgerald though says that BUSINESS WOMEN DIFFER FROM BUSINESS MEN IN STYLE, NOT SKILL/

For business women, this is a good time to be in the management ranks! Men and women managers today tend to describe their management skills and styles in terms that fit both their corporate culture (the boss’s style) and prevailing management jargon found in the latest business books.

Today’s jargon happens to be associated with consultative styles and high levels of interpersonal skills and is one reason these skills and styles are showing up in more and more successful companies. John Naisbitt, who co-authored Reinventing the Corporation, believes that innovations such as flex-time, day-care and elder-care programs, parental leave and similar new policies are driving a “humanization” (not “feminization”) of the workplace because most new jobs being created today are being filled by women.

When both men and women are surveyed today, the successful managerial stereotype remains masculine – self-confident, dominating, competitive, decisive, aggressive and independent. What surprises me is that no business men or business women identify the successful manager as using traditionally feminine traits and styles – consultative, conciliatory, partnership-oriented and collaborative - even though everyone agrees these are positive styles.

Business women use positions of authority to create a supportive, nurturing environment. Men use positions of authority to create a hierarchal environment in which they issue orders and expect obedience. If you should ever doubt your skills in relation to those of your male counterparts... remember the immortal words of Faith Whittlesay, twice U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, “Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did! And she did it backwards in high heels”.

Northwestern professor Alice Eagley, who specializes in the subject of gender differences, writes that there are a number of differences in the leadership styles of business men and business women.

Men’s styles are characterized as being task-oriented, autocratic, command-and-control, punishment-oriented. Women’s styles are characterized as being team players, democratic, transformational, reward-oriented

Ms. Eagley has found that prejudice toward female leadership styles restricts business women’s access to top leadership positions.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-19