Why are women leading the way in the science of leadership?
Understanding how the brain drives behaviour is key in being a great leader regardless of your gender. So why are women in our programs clearly leading the way in applying science to leadership? Whilst recently reviewing our course data this question really stood out for me.
One would think that linking evidence-based science to leadership would appeal to men who may have been sceptical about the soft skills. But our data reveals otherwise. In 2013, 93% of the students in our Diploma of Neuroscience of Leadership program were women. In 2014 this fell to 85% and has remained steady at 77% in 2015 and 76% in 2016. Whilst there has been some positive growth in men joining the program, it does represent a curious trend – one also recognised in ABS figures released in November 2016. That is, the growth in the proportion of women undertaking study in comparison to men. This is consistent with other research that points to more engagement in practising self development by women than men.
According to Bob Sherwin, in his 2011-2012 research examining leadership effectiveness of over 16,000 leaders, not only did women out perform men overall, but this increased significantly after 40 years of age. Interestingly, what Sherwin found was that women continued throughout their career to continue to perform on a competency called “Practicing Self Development”. “This competency measures the extent to which people ask for feedback and make changes based on that feedback” (Sherwin 2014). The research showed women continue to actively seek feedback after 40 years of age and the effectiveness of men on this competency continues to decline as they age.
This may explain why women are engaging in ongoing self development practices. However, it doesn’t answer the question of why women appear to see the benefits of understanding brain science to improve their leadership capability. Do woman more intuitively lead in a brain-friendly way and are seeking evidence to support practices they know work? One of our recent graduates who is in a COO role in her feedback reflected that ‘While I considered myself a decent manager and leader prior to my studies – much of my talent was intuitive and in hindsight, lacked the structure and power that only comes with conscious application. The course allowed me to access the science of human behaviour to more consciously tailor my approaches and behaviours to maximise benefit – for myself – my team and the organisation in general’. Perhaps understanding the science of human behaviour legitimizes many of the practices that are seen as typically nurturing and fitting in the soft skills domain which women have naturally been better at.
Tom Zender suggests that viewing Neuroleadership as a fad is at odds with the continued emphasis on the application of brain science to leadership by Harvard Business Review writers and others. He points to increased usage of Neuroleadership in corporations which has supported greater collaboration, memory improvement, adaption to change, better decision making and greater effectiveness in dealing with employee issues.
As women develop their capacity to lead with the brain in mind I would expect we may see the gap between leadership performance between women and men grow.
Growth Mindset Coach for Leaders and Teams | Keynote speaker | ICF, EMCC, ACE certified | I help raise teams' motivation, unlock their creativity, and help them develop new approaches to get measurably better results.
6yInteresting post, Linda. In my work with leaders, though there are many exceptional male leaders, I've found the female leaders I encounter to be, on average, more inclusive, more collaborative and open to new initiatives and evidence, and willing to share credit and promote others. It would be interesting if you could give us the number of your sample size. How many students and what is the average age? I ask because I see the gender divide narrowing among millennials.
Leadership Coach at Mineral Resources Limited
6yHi Linda very thought provoking article. You have received my feedback about my participation in the Diploma and it staggers me that the research stats such as yours mentioned do not trigger an avalanche of enquiries. There is not a day goes by that I don't refer to self in light of that wonderful transformation personaly received. Thank you.
Make the WORLD great again ❤
7yI believe this is part of declining violence in today and future society. What we now see in the world are the last frustrated men who kling to power through lies and military power.
Advisor, Author and Owner of Head Heart + Brain and Francesca Elliott Vintage Jewellery
7yVery interesting, thank you Linda. This is timely we are just starting research on our next book. working title Brain-savvy woman! I'll contact you to discuss.