Through the Labyrinth

CHAPTER EIGHT

Do Women Lead Differently from Men?

IT IS A COMMON BELIEF that women lead in a more collaborative and democratic manner than men. If that is true, how can some experts on leadership maintain that male and female leaders do not differ at all as long as they have the same leadership positions? In fact, both of these ideas have an element of truth: many women lead with behaviors that are tinged with culturally feminine qualities. But male and female leaders differ only in some respects and some circumstances and, on the whole, do not differ by much. The good news for women is that their somewhat less masculine ways of leading have come ...