Lack of Women in leadership is a Business issue not a Women’s issue

When technology and innovation are talked about, most people stereotypically think of men and masculine traits. However, women have time and again proved that their contribution and that of their innately feminine traits; have a significant place in the sector as well.

Janet Crawford, CEO, Cascadance and Advisor, T2 Venture Creation, has created a workshop for companies called ‘The Surprising Neuroscience of Gender Inequity’. Through this she hopes to explore and understand: “Why is achieving gender equity so seemingly intractable and what can we do about it?”

In an interview with the Daily Times, she quoted a number of studies proving the positive effects women board members have on the Return of Investment. She added that women make up for almost 50% of the world population and effect 85% of the purchasing decisions and re-invest profit into the community that causes a multiplier effect.

Crawford also advocated the need for feminine leadership qualities. She feels that in today’s world these the feminine traits are proving to be most effective in solving challenges faced by the business world, the government, the education sector and others.

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According to her, the biggest problem with the current empowerment programmes is that they single out women, which leads to a phenomenon called ‘Stereotype threat’ (according to research, when a member of a community is made aware of her/his status as the Other, they get threatened which hampers their ability to perform.) Crawford suggests that a problem like this should be presented as a business issue and not a ‘women’s issue’.   She concludes by saying that we need to follow these four steps to successfully address this issue:

• We need to create an awareness about the prevailing bias and launch programmes to combat it.

• Change the way it is looked at: it’s not a ‘women’s issue’ but a business issue.

• Enroll men in the movement and depolarize the issue.

• Create workplaces that appreciate the diversity in the different leadership styles.

ORIGINAL SOURCE: Daily Times http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/31-Aug-2014/are-feminine-leadership-traits-the-future-of-business