Blog #30

Conventional views of leadership styles disadvantage women and advantage men because most companies do not view women as leaders. More men are promoted into leadership positions due solely to their gender. In the video, “Shared Leadership: The Value Women Leaders Bring” mentions the fact that often the people who run corporations or politics are males and they feel more comfortable hiring people who look like them. In “Gender on Trial”, English writes that the default image of the lawyer as the leader is profoundly male and women are simply overlooked at times. Some women are also resistant to be the lone woman at the top of the ladder and are not interested in joining leadership ranks.

Gender expectations frame leadership behavior for men and women because men are expected to be the natural leaders. Men are always portrayed as leaders with women assisting them. Gender expectations lead men to be less empathetic leaders and less creative. Women bring different experiences to the table. In the “Shared Leadership” video, the woman talks about how women politicians bring an agenda of issues that have been neglected to the forefront and not necessarily just women’s rights issues. Women are also very successful in politics because they work well with other people and offer more support than their male colleagues. Gender expectations also affect women because one reason is that they feel it is difficult to establish informal relationships with their male peers and want to sidestep sexual overtones.

These expectations relate to stereotypes because men are the default leader in American society which automatically puts women in the more passive position next to them. Women worry about how they will be judged if they act or dress a certain way, and this effects their leadership opportunities because it limits those opportunities by not holding men to those same biases. Men face much less criticism and scrutiny in the law office because they are dominant which feeds into the stereotype that they make better leaders. In the videos it was proven that women are given less leadership positions despite their growth in certain fields such as law and politics. Half of law school graduates are women, yet only 5 percent of law firm partners are women, and even less than that are minority women. The stereotypes are a constant obstacle for women despite the advances and hard work they have put forth to achieve gender equality.

Both men and women have negative and positive leadership qualities, and a diverse group of leaders is the ideal situation for businesses. In the “Shared Leadership” video, we are told that corporations that had women in top leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies have a 34 percent higher profit than those corporations with no female leaders. Women bring different experiences and skills to the table through managing people, developing teams, and many other leadership roles. Women notice issues that men may overlook. A woman’s experiences also benefit her leadership responsibilities. While many men make great charismatic and confident leaders, they sometimes lack the insight that women provide. A diverse leadership team creates a creative, productive, and profitable work environment.

It is difficult for me to decide which leadership style I prefer more, that of a man or a woman. I have had many jobs and I have worked in a law firm directly under a male partner’s supervision as well as a female paralegal who was my “mentor” since I was a beginning paralegal. The paralegal was a great resource for me and she was usually always willing to help me but sometimes she would compete with me for absolutely no reason or throw me under the bus over a trivial mistake during an office meeting. She like to criticize my clothes and tell me what I could and could not wear. When I talked with an attorney about weekend activities briefly in the morning, she accused me of people getting the wrong impression about me and told me I had to stop talking to him. She made my work environment extremely awkward for me at times. The lawyer however treated me the same as anyone else in the office even though I did sometimes feel the uncomfortable pressures of his attempts at flirting. I prefer male leadership because they tend to treat you with a certain amount of expectation that you should fulfill and even if they are bossy or sometimes seem mean they do not purposely criticize the way you look as much as women leaders. I like women leaders though because they are usually more understanding of personal stresses outside of work and more willing to listen and understand if you cannot be in right on time or something like that. I think women are good leaders because they understand the work/life balance that people face and have an easier time relating to people. I also think women are more creative in their positions. My female professors usually give more interesting assignments with more room for creativity. I think it mostly depends on the person and how well-rounded they are. I have experienced good and bad leaders of both genders.