An increasingly heard claim is that women are better leaders than men. What this really means is that leaders with stereotypical feminine traits might be better than those with classic masculine traits, whether men or women.

The foundation for this claim is that women are more collaborative while men are more competitive. There is no doubt that collaboration is vital for success in business today. In addition, work is much more complex. We are now in an era of knowledge work where people want to have their say, not just be told what to do. Organizations have many more vocal stakeholders telling them how to behave – government, environmental lobbyists, shareholders, customers, employee groups, etc. This calls for leaders with better relationship building skills. The ability to collaborate and foster joint ownership is now at a premium. Then there is the greater need to nurture talent, with the emphasis on ''nurture''. It is not that men can't do these things, but that such skills are more feminine than masculine.

What are your views?

Hey

Women are finally getting the recognition! Men need to recognise that women have much to offer in the areas of team building and managing complex business transactions.

Regards

Sarah

interesting.....

if women are better leaders, why is it that the top jobs and places on the board are still dominated by men.

i personally think that men are better able to take the tough decisions.

James

I would agree - my manager is a women and she is just great!

I don't think gender matters. You are either a good leader or not!!!!!

Any answer is biased towards stereotypes.

To the respondent who asked why women are not in the top jobs, I would venture two explanations:

1 Women are more likely to choose or are forced to take time off for personal and family reasons, which prevents them following a career path leading to the top jobs

2 Within a corporation, there is often, sadly, a 'Boys-Only' mentality. It can be very tough to break through that.

I ought to be able to mention examples of women who have got top jobs, but can only think of the positions - CEOs of Alcan, HP Hewlett Packard, Kraft are ones that come to mind just now.

Leadership can be learnt, but it can be hard for women to gain the experience to acquire it. If they prove to have inadequate skills initially, or prove to be too sensitive, they can be left behind in the race. That could apply equally well to men.

Women are not necessarily more collaborative than men, but they may not have quite the same urge to assume power for personal aggrandizement.

It seems to me that when any group of people find themselves in a desperate situation, they will pull together, men as well as women.

Hey Sue, thank you for your feedback.

I believe there are only small barriers for women getting the top jobs now days...so hopefully this will not be a hot issue in years to come.

Regards

Justin