Erika Hayes James

Valuing Women’s Leadership

Recently I was approached by a journalist who is writing an article about female leaders and the economic crisis.  He asked me to comment on the following two questions:  1) Is it better to have women on top in times of crisis? and 2) How do women differ from men in their leadership?  I’m generally skeptical of these kinds of requests, believing that the journalist is simply trying to goad me into the age-old gender debate about whether women or men are better leaders. My first instinct was to decline the request. 

However, I am currently working with a group of women students at the Harvard Business School on an independent study of women in leadership, and I have just finished an article on the compensation gap of male and female top executives, so the subject matter is top of mind for me right now.  Consequently, I thought I would use this request as an opportunity to share my perspective on the contributions of female leadership.  Here is what I wrote in response to the journalist’s query:

There are many talented women leaders who are more than capable of leading in times of crisis or in times of relative calm.  A few of these women have achieved national and international stature. But there is a sizable pool of female talent that simply has not been tapped for contributing to solving the world’s economic problems.  As a result, we miss out on varying perspectives and leadership behaviors that women can bring to the table.   (more…)