Top Women Business Leaders Persuade Better than Male Leaders

TOP FEMALE business leaders are typically more persuasive than their male peers and tend to actively involve their staff when solving problems and making decisions, a recent study has revealed.

The study by Caliper, a global human resources consulting firm offering services aimed at optimising organisational performance, found that these women leaders generally feel the sting of rejection; however, they also learn from adversity and carry on with their roles with a positive "I'll show you" attitude. In addition, top female business leaders are as willing to break rules and take risks as their male counterparts.

Interestingly, the study also discovered that top women leaders in Singapore generally possess a commanding presence, just like their male counterparts.

Dr Herbert Greenberg, president and chief executive officer of Caliper, said: "More and more women are holding top positions in the private and public sectors. If some organisations are still apprehensive over appointing women to top positions, then this study should reassure them once and for all. Top female business leaders are just as effective as their male counterparts."

Completed in May 2006, the study involved 177 top female business leaders hailing from Singapore, Japan, China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The 177 study subjects work in a range of industries such as banking, business consultancy, finance, investment, and manufacturing. They comprise:

• 52 chief executive officers and managing directors (29 per cent of the sample population)



• 37 senior vice presidents (21 per cent)



• 53 senior directors (30 per cent)



• 35 general managers (20 per cent)

The women business leaders were subjected to in-depth personality profiles, interviews, and demographic analyses. The data were subsequently compared with similar data on top male leaders and the key findings were then deduced.

Finding 1: Top women business leaders are generally more persuasive than their male counterparts

Top female and male business leaders are almost equally assertive. However, traits such as ego drive, empathy, and sociability are significantly more prominent in top female business leaders than in their male peers.

Finding 2: Top women business leaders generally feel the sting of rejection; however, they also learn from adversity and carry on with their roles with a positive "I'll show you" attitude

Top female business leaders do not display as much ego strength (or resilience) as their male counterparts. But their higher levels of assertiveness, empathy, flexibility, and sociability enable them to quickly recover, learn from their mistakes, and prevail.

Finding 3: Top women business leaders generally tend to adopt an inclusive, team-building leadership style when it comes to solving problems and making decisions

Characteristics such as empathy, flexibility, and sociability feature more strongly in top female business leaders, who also tend to be more accommodating to their staff. However, top male business leaders are significantly more thorough in their approaches to problem-solving and decision-making.

Finding 4: Top women business leaders are generally willing to break rules and take risks, just like their male counterparts

Top female business leaders are less likely to conform to external structures such as company rules, regulations, and policies. In addition, they tend to be less cautious in venturing over their company's out-of-bounds markers. Certain qualities, such as a sense of urgency, the willingness to take risks, and the attention to detail, are almost equally present in top female and male business leaders.

Finding 5: In Singapore, top women business leaders generally have a commanding presence, just like their male counterparts

Female business leaders, just like their male peers, possess a commanding presence. They are persuasive, assertive, have a strong need to get things done and possess significant energy. Figure 1 shows the commanding presence of Singapore women.

The methodologies employed in the study are based on the Caliper Profile, a proprietary personality assessment tool developed by Dr Greenberg to identify the potential, motivations, and strengths of job applicants and company employees.Caliper uses the tool to match individuals to appropriate job positions, coach companies or individuals for improved performance and develop effective work teams.

Figure 1: Commanding Presence of Singapore Women.