While male managers are seen as having an edge in strategic visioning, technical skills, and experience managing profit and loss, female managers are seen as stronger in inclusive team leadership and people leadership skills, flexibility and adaptability to change or hardship, and teamwork and cooperation.”

The companies that performed well ranked these ‘soft’ skills as equally important to success.  In short, they recognize the “unique value of women’s different but equally important skills.”

To NOT have broad representation is – IMO – not just a waste but a dereliction of duty from the very top of too many corporations.

“Agentic behavior (think: ambitious, self-confident, assertive) is typically associated with men”, she says. “Communal behavior (think: nurturing, unselfish, expressive) is typically associated with women. In the past, ‘leadership’ was typically defined as agentic behaviors, and favored men. But the important point to realize is that the leadership of today requires both sets of behaviors.”

She goes on to explain, “I’ve found women tend to be more collaborative and more likely to use a questioning or coaching leadership approach, versus a dictatorial, top-down approach to their leadership. The collaborative, coaching style of leadership that feels more natural to women is in high demand in today’s workplace.”

Kristen’s observation of the changing world of leadership today is the defining factor here.

As companies move away from the traditional command and control style of management, towards leadership roles that cater to a more matrix-led and geographically diverse environment, the need for collaboration, inclusiveness, building trust and relationships becomes equally critical to success.

All these are skills that are intrinsically natural to women. And they are skills that can be built upon. We simply need to learn how to incorporate them into our own roles and careers.