Male bosses are from Mars, female bosses are from Venusor are they?Dialogue Rev...

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Do men and womenlead differently? Fourexperts go head to

headto debate the issue
The debate about whether differencesin the male and female brain
affect theway we manage is at the heart of genderpsychology in the
workplace. So do menand women lead differently because oftheir sex?

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Male bosses are from Mars, female bosses are from Venusor are they?Dialogue Rev... Page 2 of 9

The case against

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Shane OMara

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short because alldiscard information about individuals infavour of

thando men and women lead differently?is to ask what collection of
etc.) in agiven context, time and place, leadto outcomes that

wasthe supreme leader for wartime, but forpeace? History has

provided the answer.Elizabeth I of England, by contrast, wasa leader
for war and peace!
To assume coding by gender reflectssome unchanging and
immutableunderlying biological reality thatdescribes all we need to
know about anindividual. That such an assumption isa basis for action
is simply wrong andself-evidently so, when you considerthe
complexity and variation foundwithin, and between, human beings.
It is not at all obvious that usinggender as a proxy for the traits of
leadersis the most useful way of ensuringthe best leaders are selected.
Nor is itthe case that the traits of leaders areimmutable qualities,
independent oftime and place, arising irrevocably from gender and
brain differences. We needto rethink how we conceive of leaders,and
realize that leaders are individualswho may, or may not, be
appropriate tothe needs of the time, place and contextthey are in.
And more than that, the cognitiveand non-cognitive traits
personality,motivation, grit, oratory and so forth of leaders are not an
unchanginggiven of the male or female brain. Theycan be learned,
honed, sharpenedthrough deliberate and self-consciouspractice: this
is the great lesson fromthe behavioural and brain sciences forleaders
or aspirant leaders. We humansare quite capable of learning
andprofiting from experience, and of beingchanged for the better, or
worse, byour experiences.

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If we want diversity in leadership asa good thing in itself, then we need

tochange how we think about gender andleadership. We need to shift
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focusto the traits and skills required to fulfilthe demands of the

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the

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it is the approach ofthe cognitive miser but who ever saidanything

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Imagine this scene in your own life:You ask a man to fetch the butter
fromthe fridge. He opens the door, scansthe interior and reports

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were out ofbutter. You step up behind him, scanthe same scene,

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reach past his shoulderand pick up the butter. When I try thisscenario
out in the executive classroom,it provokes smiles and laughter

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fromwomen and from men. Weve all beenthere or somewhere

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similar. Men andwomen are diff erent. We are drivenby different

hormones, are physicallydifferent and, if we are to believeMark
Gungor, our brains also operatedifferently (Google Gungor, hes fun!).
Yet as soon as we get to work,political correctness steps in. Wedon the
corporate cloak and becomegender-neutral executives. Men
denydifferences, in case they are suspected ofdiscriminating against
women. Womendeny differences, because they want tobe seen as

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The case for curiosity

16 December 2013 - 5
Comments

But in these differences lies our greatest asset. We know that

Dialogue Classic The

Gandhi principle: Five
myths about soft
leadership

diverseteams sustain higher and moreconsistent performance over

1 January 2016 - 4

longerperiods. Our sex is one of our mostfundamental sources of

Comments

executives on a par with men.

diversity. This iswhy studies can confidently report thatorganizations

that most aggressivelypromote women to executive positionshave one
quarter to one third higherprofits than their industry

A softer hand for a

hard-wired world

average(Pepperdine University 2007, Catalyst2009). Other recent

18 December 2015 - 4

studies from MITreport the so-called C factor, showingthat working

Comments

groups with more womenin them demonstrate higher

collectiveintelligence problem-solvingcapability because women
listenbetter and encourage more participation(Harvard Business

Review, June 2011).

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Which of these brands,

do you believe has
achieved the most

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Male bosses are from Mars, female bosses are from Venusor are they?Dialogue Rev... Page 4 of 9

Our real challenge is imbalance. AsProfessor Alice H Eagly says:

Whenleadership is defined in masculineterms, the leaders who
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aredisproportionately men, regardless ofthe sex composition

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emerge

believable consumer
campaign?
14 May 2014 - 2
Comments

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Striking the gender

balance

12

14 April 2014 - 2

effectiveleadership can have a negative impacton the perception of a

Comments

YOUR DIALOGUE

Which of the following do you thin

poses the greatest risk to global
business:
Which of the following do you think
the greatest risk to global business:
Financial instability
Political fragility

Specifically,both men and women agreed thatwomen lead by

concentrating more onrelationships, managing expectationsand

Environmental threats

seeking input, while men focuson promoting their abilities and

International complexity

finaloutcomes. Do men and women leaddifferently hell, yes! We

need to getmore balance into the system, so thatwe can leverage the
best from eachother, rather than let stereotyping andexpectations

Risk aversion and reluctance to grow

Other

render one sex or the othera disadvantaged minority.

Dr Liz Mellon PhD MBA is a doctor ofpsychology and former
professor atLondon Business School

Vote
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The case against

Dr. Srini Pallay
There are more than 1,400 definitionsand 44 theories on leadership.
But ifwe agree that by lead we are implyinga way of taking charge, a
way ofassuming responsibility or the ability tocoordinate different
business elementsto reach a desired outcome, then myanswer to this
question is no. Menand women do not lead differently.Recent
psychology and brain researchsupports my view.
Many studies have showndifferences in how men and womenare
wired: womens brains are betterconnected than mens brains,
andwomen are more empathic; womenhave smaller brains but
greater amountsof grey matter; women have moreneuronal processes
despite havingsmaller neuron numbers; women likewomen more than
men like men (evenunconsciously) the studies are toonumerous to
mention. On the surface,this smorgasbord of studies supportingmale-

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Male bosses are from Mars, female bosses are from Venusor are they?Dialogue Rev... Page 5 of 9

female brain differences suggeststhat men and women must

leaddifferently. Yet, other research suggeststhe truth is more complex.
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factorsin utero to determine the structure ofthe brain. In animals, sex

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environmental factors.

In a separate study in 2016, Joel andher colleagues examined 1,400

matter, and connectionsassessed. Also, brains with featuresthat are

consistently at one end of themaleness-femaleness continuumwere
rare.
We stereotype people based on oursocialization and expectations. If
weexpect a woman to be more emotional,empathic or inclusive in her
leadershipapproach, we will look for this. Ifwe expect a man to be
more logical,directed and transactional, we will lookfor that. Yet, Im
sure we would all bewilling to admit that there are manyempathic men
and many logical andunemotional women. From as early asfive years
of age, we are prone to genderstereotyping. Th is continues into
youngadulthood and even older age. We seedifferences because we
look for them.We have attentional biases: we arewired to
overemphasize whatthreatens us.
The absence of evidencefor male-female brains, thepropensity to
stereotype, andthe bias to engage threat aboveall else, suggest that we
maybe better served looking at ourgender biases than the
differencesin how we lead.
Dr Srini Pillay MD is assistant professorat Harvard Medical School
The Case for
Lisa Danels
Men and women lead diff erently.My academic co-authors make
theresearch-based case but, as an executivewith many years

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Male bosses are from Mars, female bosses are from Venusor are they?Dialogue Rev... Page 6 of 9

experience, I wantto make my contribution to thisdebate more

applied. I find men moresingularly focused. They have the abilityto
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down and focus in on the taskat hand they dont always build

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narrow

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sensitiveand able to tune into the unspokenaspects of a conversation,

What do men do well? Id like tohighlight a couple of areas that I

requesting the resources theycan see they will need to

succeed,whether it be an enhanced budget orcertain people removed
from the team.
Women, on the other hand, tendto dive straight in and do their bestin
the face of existing challenges,which can be a struggle. Another
keydifference is that men fake it til theymake it. They are not afraid to
take onopportunities for which they know theyare not fully qualified,
figuring it outas they go along. Women, on the otherhand, prefer to
wait until they are fullydeveloped and feel ready for thenew direction.
What do women do well? Weare more emotionally sensitive
andtherefore better able to read the nuancesof a situation. While a
conversation maybe factually accurate, human beingssimultaneously
experience emotions,or even a sense of challenge to theirown identity,
that can undermine laterexecution of any decision reached inthe
moment.
Women are better at tuning intothese emotions and dealing withthem,
so that they dont derail a viableconclusion. I have also observed
thatwomen tend to deal more holisticallywith an issue. Rather than
taking astraight line to a one-dimensionalconclusion, they are able to
includemultiple aspects and options, so thatdecisions are richer and
multifaceted.
For example, in my world oftalent management, conversations about
candidates qualificationscan also take into account a broaderset of

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Male bosses are from Mars, female bosses are from Venusor are they?Dialogue Rev... Page 7 of 9

factors, such as personalmotivation, experiences,

developmentopportunities, and support from aspouse or partner.
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reorganize their work patternsand achieve the same outcomewhile

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