Why do Women need to be taught how to lead? Or – why should they be leading at all. These two areas are often brought up when discussing LEADWomen, and our mission to inspire the Middle East’s Women to lead, and empower themselves.
Organisations and society are often developed around a “man’s world” approach. However, that mindset has left women feeling they need to shatter glasses ceilings, or break through invisible boundaries in order to be seen or heard. Strengths women are not taught to have.
We recognise that across the world there are countless inspiring, boundary breaking women who are leading on a daily basis – be it small teams, start-ups or multinational organisations. They are doing it, and they are doing it with skills they have had to teach themselves.
Male strengths such as being competitive and goal focused are seen by many, especially in the Middle East as being unacceptable for a woman to demonstrate. But there is a way to lead, and inspire without being seen as aggressive. Women are naturally seen to be better equipped with soft power skills – empathy, innovation and collaboration are just some of these skills.
Brain research reveals that men and women's brains are wired differently. Leadership research confirms that teams who have least 30% women members
produce better business results – such as growth and profitability than single gender teams. Essentially the research confirms that when the strengths of both men and women are harnessed results are better.
The value of having the insight of female leaders is seen in industry titans such as Sheryl Sandberg and journalists such as Christian Amanpour. To simply write off someone’s potential based on gender is akin to condoning racial discrimination.
To inspire women to lead, we need to show them they don’t have to act like men; moreover they have to think like leaders. They need to be educated on the subtleties of business and industry, and the natural strengths men have. The woman's brain is far more active than a man's, which creates habits of self-doubt, and second-guessing, which has to be directly addressed.
At LEADWomen, our leadership courses focus on challenging the concept of business culture, and teaching women skills such as enhancing their executive presence and inspiring others through their natural empathy. Ultimately confidence cannot be faked. Under pressure, fear-based emotions will stimulate either withdrawal or blame, which weakens leadership power. Mindfulness exercises designed specifically for leaders helped Beth stay focused on critical issues rather than make herself the issue.
To find out more about LEADWomen training courses, and how we are working to support the next generation of Leaders, click here
