ARE THERE GENDER OR INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP?

DICTATORSHIPS, AUTOCRACY and DEMOCRACY: LEADERSHIP STYLES IN EVERY SPHERE OF LIFE: from the family to the government level.

HOW DO THE MALE AND FEMALE LEADERS AT EVERY LEVEL COMPARE?
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“Q. Are you truly optimistic when you awaken to a work day or do you feel the dread of another day of battle? The choice is not only yours. It is that of the people you work with.”

From the micro-leaders in our family structures to the macro on a grand national and international scale, everyone has a leadership role to play in life. HOW THOSE WHO HAVE TO OR WANT TO FOLLOW THEM JUDGE THEM DETERMINES WHO HAS A MOST SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP STYLE IN HIS OR HER SPHERE OF INFLUENCE.

We all climb up the leadership ladder according to needs as they arise in life as parents,as children in the classroom, at work. Opportunities, ability, talent, desire and ambition moves us up the ladder. But there are different styles involved in leadership and in dealing with the leaders.
In the business and professional world, people are paid,- the better they are in their professional skills, the more they will be paid, but in addition, the better leaders they are, the more they will earn in comparison with their peers.
Then there is the voluntary and not-for-profit sector, including participation in political organizations.All depend on good leadership to encourage memberships and/or followers of their political goals.

RE STYLES OF LEADERSHIP'
Below is a quote (with my comments in italics) from Herb Kelleher the Chairman, President, and CEO of Southwestern Airlines. Fortune magazine named him "Perhaps the best CEO in America" at the time.

Q: Can an organization succeed with a RUDDERLESS LEADERSHIP OR "no style" favoured by Kelleher?

Kelleher:"A financial analyst once asked me if I was afraid of losing control of our organization. I told him I've never had control and I never wanted it".
(So who is in control?)
"If you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done, and they do it. And the more that people will devote themselves to your cause on a voluntary basis, a willing basis, the fewer hierarchs and control mechanisms you need."
(Therefore choosing the right people for the right job becomes paramount!)

"We're not looking for blind obedience. We're looking for people who on their own initiative want to be doing what they're doing because they consider it to be a worthy objective."
(This is democracy, but what if it is not considered a worthy but only a personal objective?)
"I have always believed that the best leader is the best server. And if you're a servant, by definition you're not controlling". (If the boss has no control, who has? The rudderless business could be bankrupted!)

"In an organization like ours, you're also likely to be a step behind the employees. The fact that I cannot possibly know everything that goes on in our operation -- and don't pretend to -- is a source of competitive advantage. The freedom, informality, and interplay that people enjoy allows them to act in the best interests of the company."
(But how do you know that they will always act in the best interests of the organization? A leader who does not know what is happening, may find him/herself taken over by inimical events through different agendas and/or ineffectiveness.)

"For instance, when our competitors began demanding tens of millions of dollars a year for us to use their travel agents' reservations systems, I said, forget it; we'll develop an electronic, ticketless system so travel agents won't have to hand-write Southwest tickets -- and we won't be held hostage to our competitors' distribution systems. It turned out that people from several departments had already gotten together, anticipated such a contingency, and begun work on a system, unbeknownst to me or the rest of our officers". ( This is leadership!But how can one be sure of its success?)

"That kind of initiative is possible only when people know that our company's success rests with them, not with me."
(Except that one dishonest employee could have sold it to someone else behind the CEO's back for personal gain.)!

In conclusion, Kelleher must have been extraordinarily lucky in his choice of employees, presumably males and females, but also a masterful leader to enjoy the success for his company that he did.Could a woman have been equally successful? Of course, given the opportunity.
The richest person in Australia at present is a WOMAN CEO of her company.

THE AUTOCRATIC AND/OR DICTATORIAL STYLES OF LEADERSHIP.

A Wikipedia entry defines various forms of dictatorships and their leadership styles.
“In contemporary usage, dictatorship refers to an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.
For some scholars, a dictatorship is a form of government that has the power to govern without consent of those being governed (similar to authoritarianism), while in other words, dictatorship concerns the source of the governing power (where does the power comes from). In this sense, dictatorship (government without people's consent) is a contrast to democracy (government whose power comes from the people) and totalitarianism (government controls every aspect of people's life) opposes pluralism (government allows multiple lifestyles and opinions).
• Disparate authoritarian political leaders in various official positions assumed, formally or not, titles suggesting the power to speak for the nation itself. (E.G "King, Emperor, President,")

(By replacing “nations” with GROUPS, be it families, schools, organizations and “people” specifically with parents and children or members, while “governments” with parents,teachers, bosses or committees, the above can apply to any group organized as a socio-economic entity with members and their leaders !)
The power structures are there but are not gender dependent,- only AGE DEPENDENT in families and educational institutions. The leadership styles may have to be more authoritarian, but in modern times,it is certainly not as strictly disciplinarian as in previous generations.

POWER STRUCTURES: here we may find huge differences in the number of males vs. females exercising their need for power in their life, e.g.in schools/organizations/nations/families/workplace!

AUTOCRATIC LEADERSHIP is a Style of Leadership That Doesn't Create High Performance
http://www.leadership-and-motivation-training.com/principle-centered-leadership.html

Autocratic leadership has a time and place e.g in schools, the defence forces, police, (as do all leadership styles), but mostly it causes under-performance ...
"Traditionally, most organizations were/are run by men. As we are all very aware men and women have been designed very differently. Mens' basic design is for reproduction and survival ... in other words sex and killing - a primal instinct that is steeped in the need for power and control. And, unfortunately in many organizations today we have females feeling they need to mimic their male counterparts in order to succeed!

In most societies it is no longer acceptable for men to rape and plunder ... so, how does this primal instinct manifest itself in today's society? Through the Autocratic Leadership model that we see in 94% of organizations around the world.
And when you get leaders who have spent little time in self-examination you get the behaviors of competition, control and dominance showing up
The Autocratic Leadership Style (telling people what to do, when to do it and running the organization with an iron fist ... ala 'The Apprentice' ... enables the people running organizations to meet their instinctive needs (even though) they may not recognize or admit to them.

Look to any of the truly great High Performance Organizations and you will see that their leaders are men and women who have been able to move away from the Command and Control model - who have successfully removed their egos and their need for Power and Control from the business.
They are people like Richard Branson and Herb Kelleher, who are more concerned about creating a winning team, a happy, cohesive successful team than about being 'Right and in Control'. These are hugely successful businessmen and women who are absolutely focused on the results of the business, but are using styles of leadership that are more inclusive. Moving away from an autocratic leadership style is not about getting all mushy and soft ... in fact, you will be demanding higher standards of excellence from yourself and those around you than you ever have, but it is about doing it in a way that enables people to be nothing but their best.

Your challenge is to decide if the traditional Leadership Style is serving your organization well. Are you truly optimistic when you awaken to a work day or do you feel the dread of another day of battle? The choice is not only yours. It is also that of the people you work with.
Remove yourself from those with Autocratic Leadership ambitions and try something new,-e.g. an inclusive democratic style built around consensus!"

INDIVIDUALS, BE THEY MALES OR FEMALES WILL HAVE DIFFERENT STYLES OF LEADERSHIP. ALL LEADERS HOWEVER NEED FOLLOWERS. THE PRIME MINISTER NEEDS TO BE ELECTED AND REELECTED AND THEREFORE NEEDS TO HAVE EVERY FEATURE NECESSARY FOR BEING A 'POPULAR' KIND OF LEADER IN A DEMOCRACY.BEING FEMALE MEANS BEING JUDGED BY DIFFERENT STANDARDS THAN MALES, (i.e. more 'gender specifics' like looks, dress, hairstyles, demeanour, etc.It may not be fair, but it is reality and she must overcome such disadvantages.)

In communal structures where one is not dependent upon popularity for reelection, one needs respect more than 'love', but a little of both does not go astray in being an effective leader everywhere.

A DICTATOR DOES NOT NEED ANYTHING OTHER THAN TO BE AN AUTHORITARIAN WHO CAN INSTIL FEAR AND OBEDIENCE TO MAINTAIN HIS HOLD ON POWER.
I DO NOT KNOW OF ONE WOMAN WHO IS OR WAS A DICTATOR IN HER OWN RIGHT (EXCEPT CATHERINE THE GREAT OF RUSSIA PERHAPS and some Empresses in the orient?)

Miriam M.

ACROSS THE ULTRA-RELIGIOUS DIVIDE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN in Israel.

SCREAM, INSULT, EMBARRASS AND HARASS UPPITY WOMEN
By Sharon Shenhav

How should uppity women be treated in Israel today? A few weeks ago, on May 18, 2011 an answer to this question was given in the form of a psak (Halachic ruling) issued by the revered Haredi leader and Gedol Hador (Most Esteemed of his generation) Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv of Meah Shearim. The psak was published in the Haredi newspaper Kikar Hashabat and gives clear instructions as to how Jewish men should deal with women who refuse to conform to the requirements of Jewish Law as interpreted by Rav Elyashiv.

The question arose when a Yeshiva student boarded a public bus which had been a gender segregated bus until the Israel Supreme Court declared that these “Mehadrin” buses were illegal in January, 2011. Since January, all public buses on former Mehadrin routes must post notices that everyone has the right to sit wherever they choose on these buses and that anyone who interferes with that right is subject to criminal prosecution. The Court noted that women could sit in any seat on these public buses, including the front section of the bus. However, our Yeshiva student doesn’t recognize the law of the land as applying to him and his colleagues.
When he boarded the bus he discovered that a woman was sitting in the front of the bus. He informed her that this was a “Mehadrin”bus and that she must move to the rear section of the bus which was reserved for women. The woman refused to move, so the Yeshiva student screamed at her, insulted her in front of all of the other passengers and continued to harass her verbally throughout the journey.

After the incident, the Yeshiva student apparently had some doubts about his behavior and requested a Halachic ruling from Rav Elyashiv. The student thought that perhaps he should ask for forgiveness from the female victim of his attack. No such luck! Rav Elyashiv responded by stating that he had heard the details of the incident and there was no need for an apology to the woman in question. Since the woman should have moved to the rear of the bus, the section which was designated for women, her refusal to do so was a violation of the arrangement on ‘Mehadrin”buses. Obviously Rav Elyashiv does not consider himself bound by Supreme Court decisions either. In the response published in the Kikar Hashabat newspaper, available online, Rav Elyashiv gave the source for his psak by quoting from the Gemara. He quoted the case of Shmuel who saw a woman dressed immodestly in the shuk. Shmuel tore the clothes of the woman off of her. From this story, according to Rav Elyashiv, we learn that a Jewish man can publicly humiliate a woman who violates Halacha.

So now you know how to treat uppity women according to Halacha. The publication of Rav Elyashiv’s psak is a clear message to Yeshiva students and Jewish men worldwide. While the case in question involved a woman sitting in the front of a bus, I have no doubt that Rav Elyashiv’s psak can be applied more broadly to women who do not conform to Haredi standards.
How about women sitting as civil court judges, especially the President of our Supreme Court?
Then there are those women who serve as MKs and Cabinet ministers. Obviously women who are CEO’s of banks and corporations as well as women officers in the IDF. What about female academicians and scientists? Why there’s no end to uppity women today in Israel. They are everywhere, practicing medicine and law, appearing on television as entertainers and as news broadcasters, writing articles in newspapers---the list is endless.

As to the example of Shmuel in the Gemara, one can only imagine the results of this message! During the hot Israeli summer, as well as the warm days of spring and fall, the streets and public places are full of women whose mode of dress does not conform to Haredi standards of modesty.

The question I have is, how are the Yeshiva boys going to find time to study torah if they have to deal with all of the uppity women? Perhaps Rav Elyashiv can issue a psak in response to this question in the near future.


Sharon Shenhav, J.D. is a Jerusalem based lawyer and Director of the International Jewish Women’s Rights Project of the International Council of Jewish Women