Women in Leadership Roles – 4 Strategies for Female Managers

Women can be great leaders without having to follow the footsteps of men. In fact, it’s found that women have a distinct leadership style which when channelized properly can result in high performing team.

Specifically, studies & even women leadership program link women management qualities with transformational leadership style.

Transformational leaders are those who work towards improving morale and efficiency of the team players by building mutual understanding, sharing common vision and guiding through inspiration.

Women leaders can leverage their natural inclination towards transformational leadership by following certain strategies which include:

1) Giving importance to development over goals

Setting up business goals and achieving them is a part of business success. Transformational leaders consider employee development as a pathway to accomplishing goals. They master the art of transforming people into smarter and better performers by:

• Representing themselves as positive role models who can inspire.
• Caring about personal development of the team members and coaching them to be better performers.
• Emphasizing on teamwork play and using right communication to build confidence.

2) Avoiding being transactional

Imagine a boss who just gives orders and demands regular progress updates, without creating any connection with the employees. Being only result-centric and unable to connect/engage with the team at personal level is a form of transactional leadership style that is not conducive for productive work environ. So, it’s advisable for women managers to keep away from transactional style leadership that is detrimental for their growth.  This includes the following:

• Remaining disconnected with their team inspiration.
• Taking charge of the deteriorating situation only when things get too complicated.
• Engaging with subordinates only to assign work & hold them accountable for mistakes and failures.

This type of leadership is certainly not recommended. It’s important for women to focus more on a transformational approach as it allows achieving goals through personal growth and development of the team members.

3) Adopting strength-based approach

For women to be a successful boss or leader, it’s important to embrace strength-based approach.  Rather than delegating work to the team members according to the workload or time frames, it’s better to gauge what each member is good at and then accordingly assign work that suits their caliber.  The best way to carry this out is to spend time with the employees and understand them inside out. You may discover some real talent from unexpected quarters.

4) Keeping the Communication channel open

Female bosses are known to be good at verbal communications. This is the key to success. When your team is comfortable communicating with you, you’re more likely to deal with major problems with ease.  Make sure your employees feel valued and respected for their work. Appreciate efforts of each team member as meaningful contributions so that they are motivated to work for something greater than a paycheck. This is what most leadership programs in India also reiterate on and rightly so!

Remember, as women you have a tremendous potential to become incredible bosses and managers. All you have to do is recognize your abilities and leverage your natural female strengths for productive actions.

To know more about how you can sharpen your leadership skills get in touch with the right leadership coach- the Pragati Leadership. Backed with the industry experience and team of professional coaches, we ensure bringing out the best in you!