A leader is a person who influences and encourages a group of people to work towards the realization of goals. The symbol of leadership is the ability to influence others towards achieving goals and towards improvement. Leadership is the ability of a superior to influence the behavior of subordinates or group and persuades them to follow a particular course of action. Leadership is not gender-specific. It is a set of leadership qualities inherent or cultivated in person or persons who develop themselves into great leaders with mass following. Leaders can be either men or women.
We found that having more women in the workplace was also positively related to employee engagement and retention. Specifically, when asked why they stay with their current employer, people from organizations with a high percentage of women were more likely to cite positive and meaningful organizational culture, including having enjoyable work, a job that fits well with other areas of their life, opportunities to make a difference. These new findings persist regardless of participants’ age, industry, organization size, leadership level, ethnicity, and gender.
Challenges and Opportunities
Gender gap in the workplace remains a big business problem and unless we move beyond minimum effort and truly strive to make our workforces diverse and inclusive, we will be unable to breed creativity, promote innovation and push the envelope when it comes to growing our companies.
The fact is men and women work side by side, walk the same entrances and tackle the same business challenges. Yet, they certainly experience the workplace differently in some ways. For instance, though employers have begun to offer generous maternity leave, women deal with the fear of being judged and analyzed for taking a career break. In fact, working moms are just as likely to aspire to senior leadership as women without children.
Though organizations have begun to take steps to support and treat women equally, women too, need to own their place in the organization. They need to proactively step up, turn every experience into an opportunity, maximize their access to leadership positions, and never, ever doubt their abilities.
Calling for more women in the workplace should not be a race to meet a quota; it should be about maximizing an organization’s potential, better decision-making, higher employee retention, and increased innovation. An organization where women can be found at every rung will be a better workplace for everybody.
Women were just as likely as men to be interested in raises, promotions, and leadership development opportunities. They were also just as likely to ask for and accept leadership opportunities. But women expressed different reasons for turning down leadership opportunities compared to men. Men typically turned down positions because they didn’t want it. While some women shared these concerns, women also uniquely mentioned that they were not confident in their qualifications, not sure that others would support them, and were worried that they were being set up for failure.
Women in Leadership ─ Importance
In the present era cannot function effectively without women’s equal participation in leadership activities. Women create a perspective that brings to competition and collaboration to organizations and teams.
In today’s world, organizations that are led by inclusive leadership teams make effective decisions that deliver better result. In the twenty-first century, the essential qualities required to lead include the ability to collaborate, connect, empathize and communicate. All these qualities are feminine in nature and can help build a more sustainable future. Women leaders are likely to provide an integrated view of work and family, resulting in an engaged and promising personal and professional future.
