Women are still severely underrepresented in management positions. This raises (at least) two questions: why is this and does leadership need a gender at all? With the concept of "female leadership", the focus is shifting to women as managers. An article on how women can be inspired to take on management positions in the future.
The reasons for the strong, quantitative inequality at management level seem to be as old as humanity itself. In many cases, a career is still hampered by a poor work-life balance. To this day, there seem to be hardly any solutions to this proven structural problem. When bosses are faced with the choice between a young man and a woman with identical qualifications, men often have better chances. Women with children or who wish to have children still have to contend with prejudices that men do not have to face.
The concept of female leadership is a counter-proposal to the view that men are better off in management positions. It is intended to draw attention to the unequal distribution of the sexes in the boardroom and stands for more diversity. The aim of this movement is to inspire more women to take the lead and at the same time pave the way for them to do so.
Female leadership also deals with the question of what constitutes a female leadership style and how it differs from that of men. The idea behind it: To bring leadership in line with female abilities, which include empathy and a strong focus on needs and teamwork. Women naturally have different priorities in their leadership. Even if this can of course only be generalized, they focus less on hard figures and more on soft factors such as customer and employee satisfaction. In today's world, team-oriented working methods are proving to be important skills that are ultimately reflected in the figures.
Due to the challenges mentioned above, many women seem to be on the career highway with the handbrake on. The fact that theoretically everyone has the opportunity to take on responsibility does not yet seem to have reached the consciousness of female talent. Yes - there is a quota for women, which has already made a difference in this direction. The next step must be for women to become enthusiastic about taking on management positions of their own accord.
1. self-knowledge
Women must oppose the dogma that men are the better bosses. They should be aware of their own talents and abilities. Adopting a different management style does not automatically mean that it has to be worse.
2. mentoring programs
A mutual exchange among like-minded people is important in order to gain courage. Encounters with female managers and their stories can be very helpful for women who are still at the beginning of their career.
3. coaching
Women can learn to demonstrate their talents confidently as part of a coaching program. They learn self-confidence and can be specially prepared for upcoming management tasks.
It is also important that the right framework conditions are created for female leadership. Flexible working models, including at management level, would be the first important step.
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