Why you shouldn't overlook young female leaders
Being young and being female can often mean that you are subject to many biases when it comes to leadership, which can undermine our performance.
Here’s why we should pay more attention to our younger female leader counterparts:
According to a 2020 Fortune 500 report, women CEOs constitute 6.4% of the Fortune 500 list in America, notably outperforming organizations that do not have women leaders in the boards (3). In recent decades, although women have been joining the boards, there is still a fundamental bias towards women in leadership roles, especially if they are young. It is often perceived that young leaders lack significant experience that is needed to make important business decisions. The truth is, however, that they bring unique and transformational ideas to the table. Innovation and ‘feminine’ traits such as empathy combined with visionary leadership are what make young female leaders so important in today's climate.
Working with a company that is being led by a young female has taught me a lot about the feminine traits that are important for a leader to be effective.
Empathy is imperative to understanding your team and helping win their respect. When leaders are sensitive to their company’s and their teammates’ needs and requirements, teammates are more likely to feel understood and welcome. Leading with compassion helps foster trust and allows team members to take responsibility for their projects. Embracing feminine leadership traits like these can help organisations understand different experiences, perspectives, and emotional needs of the employees.
3 challenges of young female leaders:
Despite the fact that female leaders have great leadership potential, we still face many challenges in the masculine-dominated business world. Here are a 3 obstacles I have noticed plus my own positive experience working for a female-led startup:
Boards, clients and investors are generally composed of men, creating a hurdle in standing out and creating a long-lasting impression. However, working at CAIA made me feel comfortable in sharing my opinions and viewpoints without hesitation for fear of being judged.
It is significantly harder to build a supportive network in a male-dominated space. Working at an organization like CAIA reinforced my ability to seek both men and women as mentors.
Women are perceived as emotional and less decisive and that’s seen as a weakness but it can actually be a strength: their diverse mental, emotional and physical experiences actually add to everyday company decisions.
The female leadership advantage
Young female leaders can…
Inspire young aspiring generations. Having young female leaders as role models is very important for the coming generations.
Demonstrate superior leadership qualities. Key studies outline that women tend to be more honest, compassionate, intelligent, outgoing, and creative than men (4)
Strengthen teamwork, cooperation, and organizational culture as women are able to make the work environment less authoritative and more cooperative, therefore boosting the teamwork and organizational culture
Enhance communication, financial outcomes, and mentorship as women can create open communication channels by encouraging meaningful conversations with all stakeholders involved.
As said by Edwina Humby, founder of the Female Lead project, “It is very hard to be what you can’t see (1).” To fuel envisionary ambition and passion in younger generations, it is our responsibility to encourage more young female leaders to be able to set good examples. We, as organizations, can craft jobs that consider the flexibility and adaptability needed for women to succeed, and jobs that excite young women. When young women become leaders, they bring a diverse set of imaginative perspectives, skills, and knowledge and drive effective solutions.
Don’t you agree it is high time that we invest in young female leadership aspirations and role modeling? Working under a young female role model has certainly helped inspire me to define what leadership style I want to develop as a starting point for myself.
By Manmeet Sital
Business Psychologist, CAIA
References
https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-and-insights/article/its-hard-to-be-what-you-cant-see-making-female-leaders-more-visible/
https://www.naturalhr.com/2021/03/23/10-reasons-why-the-world-needs-more-women-in-leadership-roles/
https://fortune.com/2020/05/18/women-ceos-fortune-500-2020/
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2008/08/25/men-or-women-whos-the-better-leader/
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-16290-001