Do women make better bosses?
Mar 05 2008
Eight out of ten business leaders who expressed a preference say that women make better leaders than men, according to a recent survey.
A thousand industry leaders and high profile executives, mostly males aged between 30 and 50, were polled on a variety of topics by the organisers of the Leaders in London International Leadership Summit and one of the most interesting (and probably controversial) statistics to emerge was that 81% believe that women make better leaders than men.
More predictably, results also showed three-quarters of respondents believe leaders get better with age. A similar number state that no single nationality creates better leaders and half said that no particular profession produced the best bosses.
The ability to inspire was considered to be an important quality of a leader by more than three-quarters of those polled. Strategic vision (61%) and communication skills (57%) were also thought to be key. Encouragingly, an idealistic 78% believe it's possible to reach the top without ever lowering your standards or compromising your integrity.
The best thing about being a leader is the power to bring about change, according to 70%, while lack of family and social time and dealing with office politics were the biggest drawbacks. Staffing issues and financial results were the top causes of sleepless nights.
Finally, the leaders thought that Bill Clinton would make the most successful move from politics to business, with Margaret Thatcher second and Gordon Brown third.