When you hear the words "natural-born leader," what do you think of? For many of us, our brains create an image of a man. But a new
It was only this year, in the Fortune 500's 68-year history, that women CEOs made up more than 10% of all chief execs. Overall, women make up just under 32% of executive positions in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.
And yet, the traits often associated with women — being caring, empathetic and adaptable — are what make them natural
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In its '"The New Era in People Management"' report, SHL surveyed nearly 10,000 leaders across various industries worldwide to create a list of
"Organizations were not necessarily capturing what is required of [leaders] in today's complex, ambiguous environment," says McLellan. "Navigating the unknown takes emotional intelligence, empathy, understanding connection, facilitating conversations — somebody who can guide and coach people, as opposed to telling and directing and supervising tasks and responsibilities."
That's exactly where women outperform their male counterparts, underlines McLellan. But it took SHL recreating the profile of an ideal leader to see this discrepancy. Using data from assessments of individual workers who thrive within the workplace, SHL identified the behaviors and skills that led to a successful manager, indulging traits like being caring, creating emotional bonds, and leading democratically.
When examined along gender lines, men narrowly outperform women on traits like being evaluative, outspoken and trusting, while women outperform men significantly when it comes to behavioral understanding.
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"If you do take an objective lens to who you hire and promote to the leadership level, then you would find that women quite often outperform men across a number of different behaviors or competency areas," says McLellan. She warns leaders against solely focusing on the workers who achieve the best output when it comes time for promotions — creating and leading are not the same.
"We're promoting people who are doing really well as individual contributors, but we're not really looking at the skills that they need to become a manager," says McLellan. "If we can hold up an objective lens to understand which behaviors and skills are measures of potential, that will help us get managers in the right places to be successful."
McLellan emphasizes the importance of companies rethinking how they choose and evaluate leaders. All genders, of course, can express leadership traits and excel at management, but McLellan worries the right talent is often overlooked because employers have an outdated or plain wrong idea of what makes a great leader.
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"We often face a lot of organizations that don't have very diverse populations in management or leadership roles," she says. "And what our research is showing is that it's not because there's a shortage of potential. But you need to go in with the right recipe to identify it."
McLellan advises leaders to have more conversations and surveys and ask employees about their motivations and aspirations. It's vital to capture information about what employees want from their career and why, rather than promoting whoever stands out most at the time, notes McLellan.
"When you are looking to hire a new manager, you can look across the broader talent data that you've been able to collect," she says. "Invite conversations with individuals who you know have the potential and motivation to move in that direction. It gives you a broader lens in which to think about your people and opportunities."
