3 minute read
RESILIENCE
Women in Leadership
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Leaders lead by example inspiring others to achieve their vision. Successful leaders are confident, honest and authentic.
They are not afraid to listen and understand other people’s points of views, collaborating with their management team and then having the insight to make inspired decisions and communicate them to the organisation with clarity and influence.
In other words, they tune into emotional intelligence sometimes referred to as emotional quotient (EQ).
In today’s society and with the increasing use of technology, EQ in leadership is a fundamental requirement. A leader without empathy, social skills, selfawareness, self-regulation and motivation does not set an example of how to influence sustainability and successfully lead an organisation to thrive and grow.
Generally female leaders have more empathy (EQ) than there are male leaders. Male leaders with higher emotional intelligence and but most women leaders display more of this type of transformational leadership style.
By incorporating this style of leadership, the leader focuses on changing followers’ attitudes and beliefs and engaging them in a more emotional level rather than using a command and control style of leadership and just tell staff what to do.
An empathic leaders’ ability to see problems from other people’s perspectives makes them less selfcentered and more flexible in problem solving. A big part of personal effectiveness, including resilience, is selfcontrol.
Decades of psychological research show that from an early age, women display higher levels of self-control and emotional intelligence than men do.
Women’s brains are hardwired to focus more on feeling the emotional nature of things and on nurturing the emotional space. Men’s brains are more focused on hearing the emotion with a certain amount of detachment, and then turning it to find a solution. This is not a criticism; these differences naturally exist. There is great power in understanding this and that the objective overview and the empathetic reasoning together are a real strength in any business and its success.
In addition, women generally, are more open to enhancing their personal growth, self-control and innate strengths by using techniques which regulate their emotional state when they need to make decisions.
Embracing tools such as breathing, meditation, taking time out, help in managing their emotions and bringing more clarity to their decision making during conflict and other difficult situations.
Overall, women can carve a path to professional success by leaning into these skills and continuing to develop them.
Emotional intelligence is fast becoming a key indicator of success in organisations and is better developed with maturity. Exceptional leaders excel at turning their vision into an actionable plan for change, and they are strong role models for their subordinates and followers.
Leaning into these valuable EQ skills can help women and organisations close the gender gap in leadership.
Top Ten tips for women in Leadership
• Hone your emotional intelligence • Be passionate, energetic and enthusiastic - complacency is your enemy • Understand your strengths and weakness and play to your strengths (not your weaknesses) …trust in your knowledge and abilities • Be of service to others, motivate and coach your peers for success • Support and offer training to your team to enable them to reach their full potential. • Offer support not criticism • Find mentors, seek advice, surround yourself with people who believe in you • Look for opportunities to build your self-knowledge, skills and networks. • Don’t compare yourself to others • Take care of yourself and your work-life balance
