Women Are Natural Leaders What do Sara Lee, Yahoo, Xerox, PepsiCo and Archer Daniels Midland all have in common? In 2010, they represented five of the 15 Fortune 500 companies with women CEOs [source: CNN]. This is up from 2005, when there were only eight female CEOs on the list [source: Inskeep]. Even with the increase, these proportions may seem deficient when considering womens leadership skills -- and peoples perceptions of those skills. A 2008 study from the Pew Research Center found that 69 percent of those interviewed believed that women and men are equally skilled as leaders. In five out of eight leadership traits, including intelligence and honesty, women were rated more highly. Men were afforded superior ranking only on decisiveness [source: Goodman]. As leaders, women have the ability to look at the big picture; they can see developing trends and recognize connections among old and new data. These skills help generate a variety of creative options that assist in formulating future plans. [source: Sherwood] Women also have interpersonal expertise that encourages involvement and cooperation. They are good at reading body language and picking up on other peoples cues. Previously, it might have been your mom who knew you were being secretive and holding information back; now it could be your boss [source: Fisher].
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 09:04:04 +0000
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