The Female Leader – Are You Even Needed? by Julia Karhu
Picture: Carolin Freiholtz
I’m not writing this to empower you.
I’m not writing this to make you feel good as a leader.
I’m not writing this to tell you that leadership is easy.
It’s about time we make it clear. Organizations that increase gender diversity see corresponding increases in financial results, innovation, and employee satisfaction. When women are in the workplace, people report enjoying work more. Organizations with women in senior management positions, and on their boards of directors, report higher financial returns to shareholders. Businesses who have women as leaders make better decisions and is often resulting in higher levels of satisfaction among all employees. Having women, as well as men, throughout the whole organization is a win for all. *
That is fact, that is statistics, that is research.
Make space for women, not because they need it, but because the organization need it.
So yes, the female leader, you are needed!
With that said, believe in yourself. Keep on bringing value. Ask for resources, learnings and trainings that will support you as a leader. Help other women reach leader positions by making the facts, statistics, and research clear and show them to all. Make sure everyone knows that not having women in leadership positions will have big consequences. Go and be a great freaking leader!
You must know that you are needed. However, leadership is not about you. It’s about the people that you lead. Your organization needs you, but your employees do not need you, you need them.
“Being a leader is not that easy! I have employees that do not take responsibilities, that have major personal problems and that are not interested in contributing to work. It’s not my fault they have problems, and no leader should feel like a failure because of their employee’s incompetence.”
Yes, that’s what an operations manager told me after a lecture about leadership. And it’s true, no leader should feel like a failure. But that does not mean a leader can’t fail. And if a leader has employees that don’t take responsibility, it’s on the leader to help them understand how they can contribute to something bigger. If a leader has employees that have major personal problems, it’s on the leader to help their employees to know how to get professional help. If a leader has employees that are not interested in contributing to work, it’s on the leader to help them get motivated and encouraged. Your employees deserve to be led well, by someone who cares!
It's not easy to be a great leader, it takes hard work, a lot of self-awareness and actual interest in the people you lead. As a consultant and leader trainer within the program “The Leadership Arena”, I know that leadership is a skill that can be trained. Hundreds of leaders around the Nordics have gone from being a good leader to a great leader, thanks to actual practice together with their own trainer. It’s just like muscles, you might have the knowledge on how they can grow, but if you don’t go to the gym and challenge them through actual work, they will stay as they are, and even shrink when time goes.
So just like health, there’s no quick fix for becoming a great leader. But of course, there are things you can do already now to take steps in the right direction. Here are a few:
Make sure every employee know that you appreciate and need them.
Show them that you are there to serve them for their success, not yours.
Listen to them with the aim to understand, not to answer.
Expect high results.
Make clear that failures are the perfect time to learn, grow and develop.
I’m writing this to tell you that hard work is required for being a great leader.
I’m writing this to tell you that it will make you feel terrible sometimes.
I’m writing this to tell you that you can always learn, grow, and become better.
I’m writing this to tell you that the organization needs you.
But most importantly, I’m writing this to make you never forget, you are not a leader without the people who follow you!
“If you think you’re leading, but no one is following, then you are only taking a walk” – John Maxwell
Picture: Carolin Freiholtz
Reach out to Julia on LinkedIn
* Clerkin, C. (2017). What Women Want--And Why You Want Women--In the Workplace. Research Report. Center for Creative Leadership.
* McKinsey Global Institute (2015). How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth. McKinsey Global Report.
