Women and the vision thing

Citation

(2009), "Women and the vision thing", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 17 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2009.04417dad.001

Women and the vision thing

Article Type: Abstracts From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 17, Issue 4

Ibarra H. and , Obodaru O. Harvard Business Review (USA), January 2009, Vol. 87 No. 1, Start page: 62, No. of pages: 9

Purpose – investigates a research finding that women leaders outperform men in all the main leadership dimensions except “envisioning”, the ability to recognize new opportunities and trends in the environment and develop new strategic directions for enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – when Insead, the international business school, conducted an in-depth analysis of thousands of 360-degree feedback assessments, the results indicated that women leaders outperform men in all the main leadership dimensions except “envisioning”. Examines the extent to whether this finding is justified, how much it matters to women’s ability to lead, and how someone not perceived as visionary can acquire the right capabilities. Discusses the critical components of leadership in terms of the elements included in the Global Executive Leadership Inventory (GELI) and reports the theories proposed by women experts taking part in Insead’s executive education programmes to explain the Insead research findings. Findings – the three theories put forward by the women experts comprise: women are equally visionary but in a different way to men; women hesitate to go out on limb; and women do not put much stock in vision. Concludes that the challenge facing women is to stop dismissing the issue of vision and make vision one of the things that they are known for. Originality/value – clarifies some of the misconceptions concerning the role of women leaders in the process of corporate vision. ISSN: 0017-8012 Reference: 38AD098

Keywords: Leadership, Women executives, Senior management, Women, Organizations, Surveys