Welcome to the Monthly Newsletter by Amer Kaissi
Edition #38, January 2023
We’re starting the year with an amazing book: Women and Leadership- Real Lives and Real Lessons. It is written by two very successful leaders: Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Finance Minister of Nigeria and current Director-General of the World Trade Organization. It examines the many obstacles that can hold women from becoming leaders in government and in business, and suggests practical ways to overcome them. It is based on solid research and in-depth interviews with many world leaders such as Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile; Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi; and Jacinda Ardern, current Prime Minister of New Zealand; among others.
The most important idea in the book is that that there are no inherent, biologically determined differences between how men and women lead. Instead, the authors argue that variations in how women and men lead are due to the different ways women and men are socialized and stereotyped at various stages in their careers and lives. They explain: “In an equal world, no one should make assumptions about leadership style based on gender. Some women leaders would be hard, demanding and competitive. Some men would be self-effacing, team-oriented, and nurturing.” In other words, women leaders should not be burdened with the expectations that they should always be kind and nurturing, or else, they wouldn’t be accepted as leaders.
Women leaders tend to adapt to sexism and bias so profoundly, that it is impossible for them to draw the line between their real selves and how they are behaving in response to gender stereotypes. The numerous research studies that show that women are more collaborative leaders than men don’t really tell us if these women are behaving this way because it’s in their nature to do so, or in order to avoid receiving the backlash of being seen as nasty (or worse).
———————————————————————————
Dr. Amer Kaissi is a Top Leadership Keynote Speaker
