When asked about the secret to his business success, Jack Ma, the founder of Asia’s major e-commerce company, Alibaba, said that women are the “secret sauce” behind his company’s growth and success.
Underscoring the importance of women to the growth and success of his company, Mr. Ma organized a Global Conference on Women and Entrepreneurship, a two-day event, which held in Hangzhou, China and had in attendance, women leaders from across the world.
According to Ma, women make up about 40% of his company’s workforce and 35% of its high-level managers. This no doubt belies almost all misconceptions about women and competence in the workplace. That is why the raging argument about who make better managers and leaders between men and women, have long become obsolete.
Here are seven reasons why women make better leaders and managers than men:
- Women are Better at Management
While men are comfortable with the cross-the-bridge-when-we-get their kind of approach, women work better with a detailed plan and to-do list. Same way it has also been generally established that women are better managers of resources. Women possess many traits that qualify them as better managers in the eyes of their co-workers and subordinates. They are a lot more considerate of people working under them and they also have the zeal to grow along with others in an organization.
- Women know how to succeed against all odds
Women have odds stacked up against them, so, they are already used to sidestepping these odds towards achieving results. Most men simply do not understand what it feels like to be underestimated right from your childhood. On the other hand, every girl and women have faced this at some time. They have the drive to prove the people who put a barrier in their way wrong and succeed in whatever path they are working in.
- Women possess patience as a virtue
When it comes to patients, women possess a great dose. Leadership is about being meticulous and unfortunately, that is not the forte of men. Women know that decisions are not to be made in haste and so they take a time to breathe it out, dig deeper before jumping to conclusions when it comes to business decisions. Women are also known to handle stress efficiently than men. Stress can blur your decision making capability at times and then you end up making decisions that may possibly ruin your chances of promotion.
- Women are great Motivators
Leadership is about rallying people to action. This is a natural arena for women. Not all posses this uncommon quality, but, it comes naturally to women. Most women have detective quality hidden in them which often comes out when in need. They know very well what motivates you and what triggers your fears. This way they easily come up with ideas to encourage and motivate you. A study also reveals that people working under women are more engaged than those under men.
- Women are good at collaborating with people
There is a general belief that women are all too often on the competitive side, but this is far from the truth. Women are better at bringing everyone together towards achieving set objectives. Similarly, women are natural at collaborating and working together with others. Women are accustomed to playing many roles at a time because they are the homemakers and they know how to make everyone happy and this works as an advantage in an organization. Men use their alpha-male characteristics to direct others and lead while this might be good in one way they still can’t be able to do teamwork without which a company can’t move forward. Women like to work in a team, share their views and ideas and find a solution to the problem which will be in favor of all the team members.
- Women are better communicators:
Like the age-long proverb that says that “While men do the wrestling, women will do the talking,” simply alluding to believe that women are talkative. While this may appear true on the surface, a closer probe shows that women don’t just talk, they do so for a reason. They have a unique ability to think rationally about everything. Women often tend to deeply analyze and over think things which sometimes work well for them.
They can perfectly and tactfully communicate with people and snag a business deal. Their soft skills help them apply things in the corporate world efficiently. Better communication facilitates the flow of information in an efficient way which is needed in leading a company. While men prefer action over words, women prefer talking it out over a discussion and then proceeding with the work. They also have great listening capabilities and that’s the reason why they relate better with employee and customer concerns. Communication plays a key role in nurturing and maintaining strong relationship be it in a company or personally.
- Women can be generous with Praise
For better employee engagement, there needs to be a degree of both carrot and stick. Women are almost always better at giving credit where it’s due. Giving praise can be interpreted by some as a sign of ‘weakness’, and while men prefer to portray themselves as in control and authoritative, women are generally much more relaxed about offering praise. Research has shown that employees who feel valued and are recognized for their contribution are more productive, so words of encouragement now and then really can have a positive impact on the whole team.
While this list does not lay claim to exhaustiveness, it presents some facts about women in leadership. It shows why more women must step up to the leadership position and quit thinking it’s a space reserved only for men. As they say, “when you don’t get a seat at the table, you bring your seat along.” Women must, therefore, put themselves forward more often for leadership roles in the workplace.
