The gender gap is the difference between the number of men and women in leadership roles, as well as how they are perceived in those roles. Men hold a disproportionate number of leadership roles in many industries, but there are many team building initiatives that you can implement to start to close the gap.
Closing the gender gap is a complex issue, and there are many articles written on the subject. This article references the following articles: Why Women are Better Managers than Men, The Gender Divide and the Traits of Effective Leadership: Who Comes Out on Top?, Closing the Gender Divide: Why Confidence and Leaning In Alone Won’t Cut It, and A Hackathon Designed By Women, For Women, To Solve The Gender Gap.
The following points offer leadership team building tips for organizations to consider when choosing their next leaders.
Engage employees for higher performances.
According to Why Women are Better Managers than Men, Gallup research finds that women leaders are more engaged than their male counterparts, and managers are a key factor in their employees’ engagement. According to the research, employees who work for female managers are more likely to encourage team member development than male managers, and they are also better at tracking progress, which leads to higher engagement and better performances among team members.
Assign the same adjectives for men and women leaders.
An assertive male leader may translate to a pushy female leader, according to The Gender Divide and the Traits of Effective Leadership: Who Comes Out on Top?. Bringing both parties to an even playing field comes down to confidence, supportiveness, productivity, friendliness, and decisiveness. Women are less likely to tout their accomplishments, as they fear they will come off as bragging, whereas men do not seem to have that same issue. Both men and women need to have the same confidence to display their achievements without alienating others.
Create a culture that values assertiveness.
Both men and women achieve success in the workplace, and both need to feel comfortable asserting that success, according to Closing the Gender Divide: Why Confidence and Leaning In Alone Won’t Cut It . While this is the first step to closing the gap, the whole culture needs to shift its way of thinking so that men and women are treated equally when asserting successes. “You can’t self-help away deeply ingrained structural discrimination,” says Jessica Valenti, founder of Feministing.com.
Give women the opportunity to strut their stuff.
Some fields are disproportionately dominated by men, which makes it more difficult for women to break the boundary, according to A Hackathon Designed By Women, For Women, To Solve The Gender Gap. The solution? Women need to carve out their own space. The Hackathon in the article is an opportunity for women to show off their skills in the programming industry when they otherwise don’t have many opportunities to. This method can be applied to all levels within organizations, and you may be surprised by the results.
Make leadership team building a priority.
Leadership team building initiatives are high on the list of effective strategies to identify and train leaders within your organization. A leadership clinic such as The 6 Principles That Build High Performance Teams gives employees the opportunity to learn how to drive successful team results with the six principles of trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk, and success.
Closing the gender gap is a complex issue that requires a shift in individual as well as collective thinking for society as a whole. With the help of leadership team building initiatives, your organization can identify and implement strategies to start a change.
Copyright TIGERS Success Series, Inc. by Dianne Crampton
About TIGERS Success Series, Inc
TIGERS Success Series, Licenses HR professionals and consultants in the use of the TIGERS proprietary resources that improve workplace trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and result. When these six principles are strengthened so is employee engagement and retention. This is because employees enjoy not only the work environment but their colleagues, too.
Learn how these six principles build high performance teams and the behaviors that support them in the 6 Principles Self-study Leadership Program. Learn at your own pace in the privacy of your office or home. Or take it a step further by joining the TIGERS Den Leadership Training Community and receive the same 6 Principles Resources with more support.
