Leadership Skills: Men vs. Women

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The abstract definition of leadership is: a specialized form of social interaction: a reciprocal, transactional, and sometimes transformational process in which cooperating individuals are permitted to influence and motivate others to promote the attainment of group and individual goals" (Group Dynamics pg 343). In other words leadership is the ability to use power with people in an element of voluntary participation. A good leader has to be able to interact in a group, not just as a higher authority but also as an equal. Interaction should illustrate both socioemotional and task behaviors as the complete role of the leader.

Socioemotional behaviors in relationship to the role of a leader are positive interpersonal associations that promote friendship, harmony and group cohesion. When one of the group members are feeling sad, the group leader may would notice and try to make him feel better. Task behaviors of a leader focus on completing the goal of the group, reducing goal ambiguity and commencing the structure within the group. Leadership is not just about having power over people. It is about having power with people, incorporating the feelings and thoughts of the group along with completing a given task or goal.

Now that we have briefly defined leadership and the role of a leader we must next explore the qualities of a chosen or emerging leader. The leader possesses a persona that sets him or her apart from the other group members. I believe gender takes part in every feature of being or becoming a leader which most times favor the qualities of a man. The qualities consist of height, weight, age, intelligence personality, expertise, and participation. Last but not least we will explore the how gender takes pa...

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Changing the way we evaluate men and women as leaders is going to take a long time. Women are victims of the "glass ceiling" and historical deprivation. Women were excluded from higher roles within society until very recently, because of that women are stigmatized as less effective leaders. Until the vast majority of women become more assertive and not allow men to dictate there behaviors women will continue to be less likely chosen as the leader of a group. Less likely chosen does not mean less able to do the job, perceptive emotional skills are more than likely to be satisfied and effective, especially as leaders.

References

Forsyth, D. R. (1999). Group Dynamics, Third Edition, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Goleman, D. (1994). Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, New York, NY: Bantam Book Publishing Company.

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