My goal is not to offend every woman and man who reads this but… When I connect new brain science to the research data on women leaders, I come to one inescapable conclusion: we’d all be better off if women ruled the world.
There are three reasons we need women leaders now. Firstly, the world needs a future of peaceful sustainability, not violent scarcity. Secondly, businesses need to be focused on value creation, not just wealth creation. Lastly, women are simply better leaders than men. This last statement may seem controversial, but it appears to be objectively true. A 2012 study by Zenger Folkman revealed that women are superior to men in 15 of 16 leadership competencies.
These researchers didn’t talk to academic “experts” but to the bosses, peers, and subordinates women leaders actually work with. Why are women better leaders than men? Brain scientists believe it’s because women are quantum thinkers, while men think like Newton. Newtonian physics is the physics we can “see”—every action has an equal and opposite reaction, that sort of thing.
Pistons and clockwork. Quantum physics is the physics we “can’t see.” It involves unseen forces interacting at a distance in seemingly infinite variables. Quantum reality is one continuous, interwoven fabric of energy constantly reshaping itself into the world we see.
It turns out that male brains excel in situations where analytical thinking rules. Newtonian stuff. Men have tons of gray matter. Women, on the other hand, excel at quantum thinking. Synthesis. They have many more of the high-speed, interconnecting brain cells known as white matter.
It’s as if women’s brains are all running on 4G LTE while men still have analog flip phones for brains. This world of endless, invisible connections is much more accessible to an agile female brain than to a linear male one.
Women’s brains are also more at home working on teams and driving collaborative creativity than Lone Ranger men. Better wired for ethics, too. So how do hierarchical organizations leverage the immense advantages of the female brain? They bury them. According to a recent issue of the Harvard Business Review, men are routinely given bigger projects with larger budgets and staffs than women. Men tend to be invited into positions with profit and loss responsibility while women are channeled into staff support roles.
And women, as a rule, are given smaller challenges than men and receive less feedback. I have three daughters, so this really irks me. Let me tell you what I tell them. There’s something I believe women can do to change the game right now. It revolves around the one competency they score lower on than men: “strategic perspective.”
It’s not that women don’t have a mind for strategy; it’s that they don’t always communicate it with passion. By this I mean talking excitedly and convincingly about trends in their industries, in technology, in the economy, and in popular culture, and how these forces present both threats and opportunities. I suggest women learn to lead conversations with strategy. Talk about the “what” and the “why”—what’s important right now and why it is so. (Too often women leaders jump to the how-to-makeit- happen stage. But that’s project management. You’ve got to be a leader before you’re a facilitator.) I also recommend women become radical advocates for the customer experience and for creative innovation. These are domains where the female brain is designed to excel.
But there’s one other point, and this one may get me in trouble. I also believe women are their own worst enemy. This is not because of an ability problem but an identity problem. If there’s one element that is absolutely critical to leadership success, it is the unshakable belief that one is destined for leadership. Leading must be an essential part of your identity. Some people call it “executive presence,” but what it really comes down to is your inner story of yourself. Psychological research confirms that women are far more self-critical than men. They tend to exaggerate their inner doubts, insecurities, and everyday flubs, and to believe they should’ve been able to control the uncontrollable.
The good news is that all this is solvable. I’ll leave you with three steps women can take to leapfrog into leadership. First, be calmly assertive. Never act like a victim or behave as if you are disempowered. (It is drama men fear, not female strength.) Second, always articulate your strategic reasons for your agenda. Tie your work to what’s most important for the entire enterprise. Third, take control of your inner story. You are perfectly designed to lead in this disruptive age. Be committed to the difference you can make.
One researcher recently estimated it would take a hundred years for women to represent the majority of leaders in our major institutions. We don’t have that kind of time. Step up! The world needs you now.
Will Marré is the CEO of the REALeadership Alliance and co-founder and former president of the Covey Leadership Center, which brought “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” to millions worldwide. Read his weekly blog at real-leaders.com