Recently, I was charged with the responsibility of nominating an inspirational leader to be our guest of honor at a function. The criteria included: a top leader in the public or private sector, committed Christian and inspirational; one who would not only inspire hope but also positive change. One thing that the person could not be was either a politician or a pastor, as they had to have a wider audience appeal. We decided to look for a woman and we immediately hit a snag. We just could not get one who had the appeal that we wanted. The names that came up did not meet the criteria in one way or another. My colleague Janet and I decided that we would work on becoming such a woman. Maybe if Deborah and Queen Esther were alive we could have called them to come and inspire us on how they allowed God used them to save their nations.
Ever since the famous wall street Journal in 1986, the glass ceiling as pertains to women leadership has been explored. The glass ceiling has been defined as “a global phenomenon whereby women are disproportionately concentrated in lower-level and lower authority leadership positions than men”. (Powell & Graves, 2003 in Northouse, 1996). Is the sky the limit or the glass? Is it real or imagined? Can a woman break it? As I meet women in various capacities and compare notes on our role it almost feels overwhelming. Let me count –wife, mother, sister, daughter, sister in law, daughter in law, Cook (Home), church usher, church choir member… The list goes on and on. You will notice that most of the mentioned roles are based on relationships. Females are relational and hence in all the above roles I want to be involved and be the best I can be, but in leadership I am reminded I must break the ceiling. There has never been a time like now when more and more opportunities are available for women to advance to the uttermost.
Whereas we appreciate that leadership is influence, we still covet the position. Women all around the world struggle to ascend to positions of leadership due to various reasons that attempt to explain the glass ceiling. Northouse (2007), suggests three main reasons that explain the glass ceiling
Human Capital Differences: Generally, women have limited education, training and experiences that would enable them ascend to higher positions. This largely due to the fact that at some age as they assume child rearing responsibilities they lose out on the opportunities that availability at work provides. As a woman, I am more likely to choose a less demanding job to avoid family work conflict than one that is demanding that would make me more visible at work. Closely related to this is the career choices that women tend to make – more careers that do not enable or propel them to top leadership positions.
Prejudice: Gender biases and stereotypes on the roles of women and men abound. These biases range from the kind of clothes one should wear, whether married or not. These biases also affect a high work-performing woman. Ever noticed how in meetings the role of the secretary will tend to be given to a woman. I was in a high consultative meeting where we were divided in groups. In my group things came to a standstill when one brave woman stood her ground and said she wants to be chair and no woman can be secretary. The man who wanted to be chair challenged her. He asked for any other woman to be the secretary. I watched bemused as the battle of the sexes / genders continued. Eventually, the woman won but little cohesion was achieved during that session.
Gender Differences: Women and men are simply different. These differences vary but key is that women are less likely to ask for what they want, they are poor at negotiating and hence get ignored when time for promotions or greater rewards come. Some reasons given for this are that these are adaptations made through the upbringing and social expectations.
It has been said that positional power is more easily gained and lost than personal power. Personal power is said to be more useful for a leader as followers will follow willingly and not under compulsion. Personal power is about having those qualities that people admire and for that reason choose to follow. Since a leader leads out of who they are, leadership development at the personal level is key, this is true both for women and for men too. The recent interest in transformational leadership provides an interesting lead for women who aspire for the top. As Northhouse (1997) states “transformational leadership…highlights the importance of feminine and androgynous traits.”
From the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership John Maxwell states that: “Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness.” Since leadership is influence, a leader’s ability has a direct impact on the effectiveness of the organization they are leading. To increase an organization’s effectiveness, change the leader or increase their effectiveness. As a woman, increasing effectiveness can take many variations, but start from who you are – female, not male, God created you female.
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Empathy: The ability to identify with the feelings of others is critical. People don’t care how much you know until they can be sure that you truly care. Queen Esther for a moment almost lost it when she gave excuses and it is until she identified with her people did she move to do something.
Intuition: The ability to sense without reason; that gut feeling often called the 6th sense.
Communication: The ability to exchange ideas and information is a great gift to women, especially verbally. Where it is positive it is uplifting and energizing. Queen Esther chose her words very carefully. In the King’s courtyard although offered up to half the Kingdom, she opted not to pour out her grief in public before the King and his subjects. She invited him to dinner. That ability to choose words carefully, and even on the second night when she finally tells the King, she is precise, powerful and yet so appealing in a way that moved the King to anger.
People Skills: Leadership is about people not things or animals but people. Any leadership agenda worth pursuing needs to be about moving people from one level to another. You cannot move people if you do not relate well with them. Connecting with people is vital so that people sense your warmth and humanness.
Queen Esther spoke on behalf of not only her family but the whole nation of Israel, not just in the present but in the future too. She ensured that not only was Haman eliminated but the decree was also annulled as it would have still affected future generations.
Participatory Leadership Style: Allowing people to own the current and future direction of the team or organization is key. A participatory leadership style builds consensus and ownership and creates a sense of camaraderie that results in long-term commitment to team goals. Queen Esther did not just ask the people to fast and pray but she did so herself with her maidservants.
Visual Identity: Looks can be deceiving but looks matter. A power suit is important if appropriately dressed. A trouser suit and tie for a lady can be intimidating, a flowery dress may look too mummy. Image is important. After the period of prayer and fasting, Queen Esther chose to put on her royal robes. She could have gone in with sack clothes and ashes to signify her grief, instead she chose her power suit to command the Kings attention, and indeed the King was pleased with her.
Ladies, to be or not to be is not the question. We must go out and make our leadership count, but first let’s start with what we are. You have empathy, intuition, people skills, participatory leadership style and visual skills. Be the one who will stand up to be counted, shatter the ceiling.
