independent THE SUNDAY
Women’s Day
7
AUGUST 11 2013
Seeking visionary leaders among women Opinion
Liza Van Wyk
F
OR MANY years there has been an urban legend which describes an African woman which goes like this: Leave a home to a 12-year-old girl as the leader, you will find everything in place. Leave a home with a boy of the same age, on your return you will find your home in tatters, in a disastrous condition. The moral of the story: leadership responsibility. Across the world, when companies choose leaders to take them to new heights, they are always looking for responsibility. A leader has to be responsible, lead by example, and must be honest and hard-working. As we celebrate August as Women’s Month, we are always prompted to ask: Why then are South African women and women around the world still lagging behind in terms of national, international and corporate leadership? The answer lies in us, the women. Why do I say this? Many governments, including our own, have done well in terms of putting in place legal and administrative measures to curb discrimination against women. Most constitutions are no longer discriminatory, international treaties protecting and promoting the civil and political rights of women are in place. For example, on the political front, the representation of women has increased from 27.8 percent in 1994 to 49.3 percent in 2010, putting South Africa among the leading countries in the world in terms of the number of women in important leadership positions. Women represent an important economic group in the changing composition of the marketplace and the global economy. In fact, women are a dominate force in the marketplace. In South Africa, women represent the overwhelming majority of consumers and a growing segment of women-owned or womencontrolled businesses, generating
Women leaders not fundamentally different from men,just socialised differently billions of rands in sales and employing millions of people. In the world of work, there is a scarcity of women in top leadership. Despite the documented progress of women, there remains a scarcity of women in executive roles and on corporate boards of directors. Women must take the prevailing political environment as an opportunity to take up leadership, it is not easy but we must work hard, ignore the intimidation and insults we encounter. This intimidation should not stop our fight for equality but should give us strength to move on. However even though women’s representation in senior management in the public service has improved, representation of women in the corporate boardrooms in the private sector remains a big challenge. Researchers have suggested that women’s traditional roles as family caregivers and nurturers have created a dilemma based on a complex blend of some real and some perceived differences between male and female managers. This dilemma based on gender stereotypes puts women in a position where they are unassociated with management effectiveness because that label is associated with male characteristics and they are associated with nurturing communal roles. The issue is not whether women are one or the other but that variation exists and women can be either or both. That is why the gender differences in management and leadership styles have been the topic of much research demonstrating that the problems of gender stereotypes impact the leadership styles of men and women. Several studies have identified women’s leadership styles to be more interactive and transformational whereas men’s style has been identified as more directive. Other studies have shown that the leadership and management styles of female leaders are more effective and more humane because of women managers’ emphasis on communication, co-ordination, good interpersonal relationships, and collective success. So why are women finding it difficult to reach the upper echelons of leadership and power. The answer may lie in cultural traits. A woman is socialised and made to believe that she cannot be a leader outside the traditional setting of a home and made to believe that she must
Breaking barriers US President Barack Obama meets with African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma in Johannesburg in June. According to the writer, in the world of work, there is a scarcity of women in top leadership. PICTURE:REUTERS
always work twice as hard to be recognised as a leader either as a corporate executive or political leader. No one doubts the ability of women to assume any kind of leadership. As we all know that cultural beliefs can prevent women from assuming leadership positions without a struggle, enhancing African women’s leadership must start at the household level, where the biggest hindrance is always located. So how can women reach the top? Look for strategies for building confidence, risk-taking and improving their professional personas, including learning to be assertive. Many women tend to shy away from assertiveness and self-promotion, and when they do promote themselves, they do it poorly.
Women tend not to do it well, and they’re often perceived to be aggressive when they do it. Sometimes the women are so focused on breaking down doors that they do not know how to act when they actually get through the door. As a result, many women need help developing business and leadership skills. That is not difficult at all. After all, women are natural networkers. It’s easier, to some degree, for women to promote themselves in a group with other women. Women also tend to connect on a more personal level, sharing experience and advice, not only about business, but also about the ever-elusive goal of work-life balance. The importance of networking for most of us most of the time… is to meet people who can help us do
our current jobs better and, on a more personal level, to feel a sense of connection and camaraderie. I am always fascinated by other women’s personal stories and the different paths they’ve taken to their careers. Learning of similarities in our backgrounds or in the challenges we face personally or at work can be comforting, encouraging and helpful, and learning about our differences can be downright inspirational. Once women start to develop their voices and confidence at networking events, though, they face the challenge of putting what they’ve learned into practice. And although many organisations have gender-equity policies in place, the salary and leadership numbers show that, clearly, those policies are
not always put into practice. Women need to learn how to work successfully within the systems in which they find themselves, rather than rail against them. That means being flexible and finding consensus in their leadership style, rather than adopting an aggressive, unyielding “my way or the highway” approach. For women especially, if you’re seen as a top-down leader, or if that really is your leadership style, you’re likely to fail. Moreover, women leaders should cultivate loyalty, rather than act in a merciless cut-throat manner to get ahead. It’s also critical that women have a big-picture understanding of the way their entire organisation works, including the organisation’s financial aspects. In many cases, the longer women
are in the workforce, the more the gender differences between men and women’s work and leadership styles begin to disappear, proving that women are not fundamentally different from men, they are just socialised differently. As we celebrate Women’s Month, let us remember Margaret Thatcher, who once said: “If you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman.” And yet the late first woman British prime minister will be remembered – for better or for worse – as one of the greatest visionary leaders in history. ■ Van Wyk is chief executive of AstroTech Training which offers leadership development training. Visit www.astrotech.co.za or call 0861 AstroTech.
Gender equality good for men too as patriarchy oppressed us all
I
HAVE often asked myself: why engage men in gender equality and gender transformation? Is it worthwhile, does it work, or is it just an elitist, appeasing project that does little to tackle the real issues faced by society? I ask myself these questions as we reflect on and commemorate Women’s Month. Does work that targets men for the promotion of gender equality do anything to really address behaviour? A growing body of evidence highlights that well-implemented programmes targeting men and boys can influence their attitudes, behaviours and their role as agents of change in the achievement of gender equality. A studyby Gary Barker, Christine Ricardo and Marcos Nascimento found that “well-designed
programmes with men and boys show compelling evidence of leading to change in behaviour and attitudes”. An evaluation of the Stepping Stones initiative in the Eastern Cape by the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) showed huge changes in men’s attitudes and practices. Over two years of followup, participants reported fewer concurrent sexual partners, higher condom use, less transactional sex, less substance abuse and less intimate partner violence. Similarly, evaluations to determine the impact of Sonke Gender Justice’s One Man Can Campaign “indicated significant changes in short-term behaviour in the weeks following Sonke workshops with 25 percent having accessed VCT, 50 percent having reported acts of gender-based violence and 61 percent having increased their own use
of condoms”. More than four out of five participants at Sonke workshops also reported having subsequently talked with friends or family members about HIV and Aids, gender and human rights. So, the cynic would not be able to argue that engaging with men is an intervention that fails to bear fruit. But the process that men need to go through to embrace gender equality is not always easy. Men have to take a giant leap out of their comfort zone. Many of us have been raised to internalise that men are superior to women and that men’s rightful place is in charge. We have been encouraged to believe that men should have the last word, which has allowed us to believe that women don’t need to be listened to. We have been taught that men must be strong and in control
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MEN ARE GRAPPLING WITH UNDERSTANDING MASCULINITY and therefore it’s okay to dominate and violate women. This is how we are expected to behave. If we behave in a way that challenges these notions of what it means to be a “real man”, there are
often a range of negative consequences to remind us what’s the right way to behave, what’s acceptable and what’s not. Those men who go so far as to actually challenge and question patriarchy, are told they are sell-outs and that they’re simply appeasing the Western Eurocentric liberals, especially if they happen to be a black man. Men are grappling with understanding masculinity in the 21st century, especially when women’s empowerment is mistakenly perceived as undermining men. While many men may long for the “good old days”, where men and women knew their place and life seemed simple, it would be beneficial for men to interrogate such assumptions a bit more deeply. Life may have seemed simple, but just because people did not express their unhappiness or frustration, does this mean they were
happy? Women weren’t allowed to challenge their husbands, so no wonder the impression was given that they were content. There are also many men who are buckling every day under the pressures to fulfil this socially constructed idea of what it means to be a man. Unemployed men unable to provide lash out through violence or sexual promiscuity in desperate attempts to demonstrate their manhood in other ways. The world is changing and the way we think about how men and women “should” behave needs to change with it. There are various institutions that make it hard for men to promote gender transformation. These institutions continue to be lead predominantly by men: bishops, CEOs, vice-chancellors, judges, heads of political parties and trade unions, showing that they have not
embraced values such as equality and transformation, and in doing so, send a sad and problematic message, especially to young women. There is much that needs to change about men and gender in our society, but it is difficult for men to do it alone. This is why work that seeks to engage men in understanding and realising the benefits of gender equality, for themselves, their families and their communities, is imperative. It does work, and there are benefits for us as men but also for those we love and care for. We should not be threatened by women’s empowerment but rather see it as redressing the legacy of patriarchy that has not only oppressed women but us as well. ■ Botha is Government and Media Relations Officer at Sonke Gender Justice Network
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