Women as Succesful Leaders

Introduction

Nowadays there are more female in managerial positions then in the past. However, the number of women in executive leadership roles is still small. (Budworth & Mann, 2010). This paper will examine the situation of women leadership, differences between men and women leadership style and suggest explanations on what are the main barriers for the women to become successful leaders or to be appointed in high positions in the companies. The academic articles were gathered and analyzed in order to give the readers a deeper insight into the topic.

The paper will contain brief information on the chosen leader and the analysis of the interview which was carried out in line with the problems stated and facts discovered and concluded in the literature review.

Three main questions were investigated:

1. Differences in leadership behaviour between women and men

2. The main obstacles for a women to become a successful leader

3. The suggested action women should take to be successful

Literature review on the topic of women leadership

The article written by Vanderbroeck (2010) states that the men’s leadership style and women’s are different and that there are several obstacles for woman to become successful leaders. One of the traps mentioned in the article is the assumption that the women should imitate and act the same as men and that women and men leadership is based on the same qualities. This article is also supported by Pratch (2011) who states that when women tries to behave as men it is only adding to the gender-role conflict that leads to negative evaluations.

If we speak about each genders leadership qualities and characteristics, women are mostly focused on tasks and are more expressive and motivating in their leadership style while men focuses more on the strategy and are perceived as unemotional and objective in their manner. However both men and women should be considered as equally effective leaders as both are...