ChristineWhy Women Should Rule and Men Should Have a Good Lie Down
January 26th 2008 23:57
1. Women were often the original rulers:
Most of the earth was ruled by women for the first 200 000 years of human existence. Men have only begun ruling in the last 7000 years, and in western society this only became absolute after the European Inquisition (‘witch hunts’) which ended only 300 years ago.
2. Women’s biology is well suited to leadership:
Firstly, from our earliest conception in the womb, the human embryo leans intrinsically towards being female. Males, if they are to not only turn into male human beings but also survive as pure males, need to fight for their very survival at every turn. Secondly, females have more of the hormone oestrogen. The more research that has been done into hormones, the more oestrogen has come out as a winner in the new leadership styles. If what we are looking for now in our decision makers leans more towards emotional intelligence, communication and inverted hierarchies, women again, come out on top. Anthropologist Helen Fisher, wrote in her book The First Sex (Helen Fisher, Random House, 1999), “that women’s taste for egalitarian harmonious connections is associated with the female hormone oestrogen” (pg 29)
Fisher also believes that as oestrogen increases flow of information among neurons, it may well be the cause of the female skills in verbal memory and articulation. Oestrogen makes women talented in the linguistic department – and being able to speak well augurs well for leadership (and as Fisher states, being articulate is equated often - rightly or wrongly - with intelligence).
Women are also more sensitive than men in reading people’s emotions and how they are feeling, and according to Fisher this helps in the care of children, but also in negotiations and dealing with people from other cultures where language cannot be used as an indicator. “ …the ability to recognise emotions in the face is also linked to the female hormone oestrogen”. Thirdly, as there are slightly more women in the world than men currently, the majority should rule!
3. Women have the perfect brain for management:
Women tend to use both hemispheres of the brain at the same time whereas men tend to use intensely one side or the other. These modes have been named the global brain and the split brain respectively. Women tend to find a middle ground with ready access to both sides of the brain while men will tend to be extremely in side and then extremely in the other. This has been given as a reason why men more than women are more easily able to become specialists in their fields of work, and why women more than men are more easily able to organize a variety of events occurring at once and be overseers in their fields of work. Also, a team from McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, found that women have up to 15% more brain cell density in certain areas of the frontal lobe, which controls so-called higher mental processes.
4. Women’s styles of leadership are successful:
In the Myers and Briggs Type Indicator, there are Transactional and Transformational styles of leadership. Transactional leadership is based on events, not people. A style that fits beneath this umbrella is Management by Exception Leadership. Its style is to command and control. You wield power based on your position within the company. Your style is to identify mistakes, correct them and take disciplinary action on personnel. Another style is identified as `Contingent/ Reward Leadership’. Your style is to let people know what is to be expected and the rewards they will get if they meet expectations.
Under the Transformational styles are The Visionary and The Catalyst styles. They are called transformational styles because they focus on creating personal change for employees. Women are more likely than men to use the most effective style (Transformational) and less likely than men the use the least effective style (Manage by Exception). Currently women use more interpersonal styles (called consideration style) and men use more task-orientated style (called initiating style), although women in male dominated industries tend to use the traditional `masculine’ styles of leadership more.
5. Men Have Been Pushed Into Leadership Roles for Too Long, and Need Time out for Themselves
Men across the planet have a higher suicide rate than women. They tend to die younger and be less healthy throughout life. Some of this can be attributed to the male myth of strength and self-reliance, so asking for help is not seen as `manly’. Male disconnection and loneliness (greatest cause of illness and suicide) also comes from generation after generation of men being forced away from the home and community, by war, by work, and by divorce. Women have let men rule and in doing so have taken time out for themselves to grow and to connect with what’s important to them. Now men need this time to sit back and contemplate. And the good news is that it’s already happening.
“ If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long?” Gloria Steinem
Most of the earth was ruled by women for the first 200 000 years of human existence. Men have only begun ruling in the last 7000 years, and in western society this only became absolute after the European Inquisition (‘witch hunts’) which ended only 300 years ago.
2. Women’s biology is well suited to leadership:
Firstly, from our earliest conception in the womb, the human embryo leans intrinsically towards being female. Males, if they are to not only turn into male human beings but also survive as pure males, need to fight for their very survival at every turn. Secondly, females have more of the hormone oestrogen. The more research that has been done into hormones, the more oestrogen has come out as a winner in the new leadership styles. If what we are looking for now in our decision makers leans more towards emotional intelligence, communication and inverted hierarchies, women again, come out on top. Anthropologist Helen Fisher, wrote in her book The First Sex (Helen Fisher, Random House, 1999), “that women’s taste for egalitarian harmonious connections is associated with the female hormone oestrogen” (pg 29)
Fisher also believes that as oestrogen increases flow of information among neurons, it may well be the cause of the female skills in verbal memory and articulation. Oestrogen makes women talented in the linguistic department – and being able to speak well augurs well for leadership (and as Fisher states, being articulate is equated often - rightly or wrongly - with intelligence).
Women are also more sensitive than men in reading people’s emotions and how they are feeling, and according to Fisher this helps in the care of children, but also in negotiations and dealing with people from other cultures where language cannot be used as an indicator. “ …the ability to recognise emotions in the face is also linked to the female hormone oestrogen”. Thirdly, as there are slightly more women in the world than men currently, the majority should rule!
3. Women have the perfect brain for management:
Women tend to use both hemispheres of the brain at the same time whereas men tend to use intensely one side or the other. These modes have been named the global brain and the split brain respectively. Women tend to find a middle ground with ready access to both sides of the brain while men will tend to be extremely in side and then extremely in the other. This has been given as a reason why men more than women are more easily able to become specialists in their fields of work, and why women more than men are more easily able to organize a variety of events occurring at once and be overseers in their fields of work. Also, a team from McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, found that women have up to 15% more brain cell density in certain areas of the frontal lobe, which controls so-called higher mental processes.
4. Women’s styles of leadership are successful:
In the Myers and Briggs Type Indicator, there are Transactional and Transformational styles of leadership. Transactional leadership is based on events, not people. A style that fits beneath this umbrella is Management by Exception Leadership. Its style is to command and control. You wield power based on your position within the company. Your style is to identify mistakes, correct them and take disciplinary action on personnel. Another style is identified as `Contingent/ Reward Leadership’. Your style is to let people know what is to be expected and the rewards they will get if they meet expectations.
Under the Transformational styles are The Visionary and The Catalyst styles. They are called transformational styles because they focus on creating personal change for employees. Women are more likely than men to use the most effective style (Transformational) and less likely than men the use the least effective style (Manage by Exception). Currently women use more interpersonal styles (called consideration style) and men use more task-orientated style (called initiating style), although women in male dominated industries tend to use the traditional `masculine’ styles of leadership more.
5. Men Have Been Pushed Into Leadership Roles for Too Long, and Need Time out for Themselves
Men across the planet have a higher suicide rate than women. They tend to die younger and be less healthy throughout life. Some of this can be attributed to the male myth of strength and self-reliance, so asking for help is not seen as `manly’. Male disconnection and loneliness (greatest cause of illness and suicide) also comes from generation after generation of men being forced away from the home and community, by war, by work, and by divorce. Women have let men rule and in doing so have taken time out for themselves to grow and to connect with what’s important to them. Now men need this time to sit back and contemplate. And the good news is that it’s already happening.
“ If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long?” Gloria Steinem
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