What do you think?
The answer, in the work context, depends on the particular skill and on whether the leader is highly effective.
Recent research relating to people’s behaviour at work, shows that on average, women are better at immediately sensing people’s emotions; whereas men tend to have more social confidence. In the general work population these differences are quite marked, even at executive level.
However when the research focused on just the most successful leaders, these gender differences are almost completely absent.
This research is highlighted in an inset in an interesting article in this month’s Harvard Business Review. In the article, Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis are writing about Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership. They quote research by Margaret Hopkins, at the University of Toledo. Hopkins’ research showed that amongst the most effective leaders, men and women exhibit very similar emotional and social intelligence, as well as similar levels of general competency.
Admittedly this research was at only one financial services company. There is another reason as well for us women not to get too excited – Hopkins’ research also showed that amongst these very effective leaders, the men were assessed as more competent; even when the competency levels of males and females was similar!