Leadership; Does It Matter?
People have continued to pose debatable opinions over the years on the big question of who makes a better leader. Men and women behave differently in a leadership role and it is a much debatable conversation.
Some people believe women have a better disposition to be good leaders than men, while others believe men are bolder, more decisive, and have inborn potential to be successful leaders more than the female gender.
There has been a more pronounced stand for a long time that women can lead better than men but have been deprived of such responsibilities with several barriers and biases. Society has created these biases over the years specifically in conservative and developing countries. It is strongly believed that women have a more cooperative, participatory style of leading, while contrary belief has it that men are more commanding and love to be in control.
However, according to research conducted by the American Psychological Association on “Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity”, men are believed to be more task-oriented and directive, while women are more democratic. The true basis of understanding leadership without gender bias will come first by understanding who a true leader should be.
In all the definitions from great minds, we can see that leadership stems from social influence and not necessarily from only authority or power. According to a definition of leadership in an article published by Forbes, leadership is a process of social influence, which maximises the effort of others towards the achievement of a goal. On his part, Bill Gates sees leadership as the capacity to empower others to become great leaders, while John Maxwell simply sees leadership as having total influence.
From all those descriptions, it is noteworthy that leadership requires others’ input, hence, it is not limited to a person, gender, or even a title. Leadership is more about qualities an individual possesses that an individual has built to be worth following and trusting over time.
In the past month, popular social media platform, Twitter, went abuzz with trendy stories of reported maltreatment of some employees in Nigeria, following a spotlight on some harsh bosses and their somewhat unattractive work culture and unconducive environment.
Some of the talking points with the presumed horrible bosses ranged from poor salaries, poor etiquette and manner of communication, working conditions, toxic environment, and poor leadership skills from their bosses. Interestingly, both male and female bosses were called out and criticised, contrary to the assumptions by many that maltreatment at work is gender-based.
This goes to buttress the argument that being a good leader isn’t gender-specific. It is instructive to note that without certain sterling qualities or attributes anyone could be termed as having bad leadership skills.
The following are some of the good attributes of an effective leader;
- A good leader must prioritise change and set goals; must be able to focus on the big picture, avoid distractions and take responsibility for achieving them
- Possessing an open-mindedness stance will ensure thoughtful responses during difficult situations
- Must be empathetic as well as assertive while maintaining a positive outlook at all times to motivate others to achieve ends
- A good leader must accept mistakes and take responsibility for falling short of stated goals or mistakes and take feedback from team members
- A good leader is to build and develops a team with diverse skills, tools, and backgrounds giving them the space and confidence to build trust with one another
- A leader must be a strategic thinker, innovator, and must always maintain a flexible mindset to be willing to try new ideas
To be an effective leader, irrespective of gender, an individual must prioritise change and self-development. Emotionally-intelligent leaders are mostly considered to be very adaptive, reasonable, good listeners, and accept feedback from their team members. They are good at bringing a team together and are very open to changes.
