Contrary to common belief, female leadership has been proven to be beneficial for businesses, particularly financially. Understand why and get to know the necessary skills to be a good leader.
Did you know that in 2023, for the first time in history, women CEOs lead 10% of Fortune 500 companies? This progress is not just about representation or compliance with ESG principles, but a strategy that has been proven to benefit the financial performance of organizations. The Ready-Now Leaders report by the non-governmental organization Conference Board shows that organizations with at least 30% of women in leadership positions are 12 times more likely to be among the top 20% in financial performance. In other words, having women in leadership roles is good for business. In this case, why do sectors like technology still have few women in positions of power?
The context of female leadership in IT
Many people are unaware that the first algorithm in history was written by a woman named Ada Lovelace in 1815. However, much has changed since then. Over time, female representation in this field has decreased, especially as personal computers became popular and were predominantly associated with boys, who were encouraged to learn programming. Today, despite advancements, there is still significant underrepresentation of women in leadership positions in technology companies.
Women represent only 24% of professionals in the field – not to mention the percentages of women in leadership positions. However, female leadership has been a transformative force in all areas of society. Women leaders are showing that skills and characteristics traditionally associated with women are as important as those commonly associated with men.
The effectiveness beyond segments
A Leadership Circle survey, based on analysis of over 84,000 leaders and 1.5 million assessors, showed that female leaders are considered more effective at all levels of management and across age groups. Let’s take a look at some skills in which women leaders excel, according to the study:
- Conflict resolution: throughout their upbringing, women are often taught to deal with conflicts. This means they are more adept at resolving them. Confronting problems in a healthy manner is crucial for achieving good results, whether in a team or company context.
- Creativity: socially, women excel in creative dimensions. This is not about the leader’s individual creativity but how this leader encourages their team to think creatively and come up with solutions, rather than simply telling them what to do.
- Authenticity: in a technology environment, where creative work professionals are involved, it is impossible to micromanage what each person is doing (nor should you attempt to do so). Authenticity allows leadership to be vulnerable and inspire their team to do the same. Authenticity and vulnerability facilitate dialogue, which, in turn, helps to avoid setbacks.
- Systems thinking: women have a better grasp of systems thinking, enabling them to identify cause-and-effect relationships and seek the real problem to be solved, rather than focusing on ineffective solutions.
- Sense of community: women strive for win-win situations and not necessarily to compete. They are much more focused on solving a problem or achieving a common goal that everyone involved can celebrate. This allows them to cultivate stronger and longer-lasting connections.
As we have seen throughout the text, female leadership brings unique and essential skills for the growth and innovation of companies. If you wish to broaden your perspective on competencies that all leaders need to develop, we recommend the Stable Team framework, a valuable tool to optimize the management of IT teams.
