Leadership Development Saudi electronic Gender and Leadership discussion

Q – Please read the discussion Attached and prepare a Reply to this discussion post with comments that further and advance the discussion topic.

Gender and leadership has been a topic of interest in the field of leadership for quite some time, it is widely believed that women excel in interpersonal leadership while men excel in task oriented leadership (Eagly & Johnson, 1990). In this discussion we will discuss several points regarding how gender playes a role in leadership such as style and effectiveness, socialization and expectations, communication and decision making, confidence and risk. With regards to style and effectiveness, traditionally, leadership styles are associated with gender. Men are stereotyped as favoring directive and assertive styles, while women are seen as more collaborative and relationship-oriented (Herrera et al, 2012). However, research shows these are generalizations and leadership styles vary greatly across individuals. in the same vein leadership socialization and expectations, men might be encouraged to be decisive risk-takers, while women might be steered towards communication and building relationships. These influences can shape how individuals approach leadership roles. As for communication and decision making, tudies suggest female leaders may adopt a more democratic communication style, encouraging participation and debate. In contrast, male leaders might lean towards a more autocratic approach, focusing on delivering decisions (Shen & Joseph,). However, these are trends, not absolutes. Another leadership style with regards to confidence and risk tolerance, there’s evidence that women might be more cautious in displaying leadership behaviors due to potential for negative reactions (Coleman & Fitzgeral, 2009). This could lead to less self-promotion and decisive action compared to some male counterparts. Managing a virtual team is a unique and interesting challenge as it was not widely focued on till the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in my opinion the five best practices that a leader should have in manging a virtual team are task oriented, communication, trust, delegation, and recognition. The first aspect is task oriented, managing a virtual team puts less emphesis on interpersonal relationships, to keep the team focused the leader must ensure that they have clear tasks to work on and understand their role. The second one is communication, the role of communication is magnified when teams are virtual, as they do not rely on interpersonal interaction, therefor, some of the communication can be lost in the process. Third is trust, virtual teams need to have a level of trust to be able to complete their task, a good leader must be willing to give them trust and ensure that they understand the expectations that comes with it. Fourth is delegation, leading a virtual team can be difficult, delegating some of the tasks can help the leader focus on more important matters in the tasks. Lastly recognition, recognizing team member’s effort gives them a moral boost in their next task and helps them feel more satisfied in their position. All in all, virtual teams are difficult to manage but by understanding the best practices a good leader can apply them accordingly. References: Eagly, A. H., & Johnson, B. T. (1990). Gender and leadership style: A meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 108(2), 233. Herrera, R., Duncan, P. A., Green, M. T., & Skaggs, S. L. (2012). The effect of gender on leadership and culture. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 31(2), 37-48. Shen, W., & Joseph, D. L. (2021). Gender and leadership: A criterion-focused review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, 31(2), 100765. Coleman, M., & Fitzgerald, T. (2009). Gender and leadership development. In International handbook on the preparation and development of school leaders (pp. 119-135). Routledge.