IS EMPOWERMENT A FEMININE ATTRIBUTE?

Many psychologists started researching on how male ego and bluster could wreak havoc in terms of decision making compared to empowered leadership styles of female leaders.

We think the divergence has a great deal to do with that ego and bluster. Women, accounting for less than 7% of the world’s leaders, so the fact that so many have distinguished themselves during the COVID-19 crisis is striking.

Just as leaning into masculine stereotypes seems to correlate with poor pandemic responses, many observers seem to believe that woman leaders’ success may be rooted in their traditionally “feminine” qualities, such as empathy, compassion, and willingness to empower their teams, resulting into collaboration.

“We often joke that men drivers never ask for directions,” observed Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel of the University of Pennsylvania. “I actually think there’s something to that also in terms of women’s leadership, in terms of recognizing expertise and asking experts for advice, and men sort of barreling ahead like they got it.”

That is the point. And that is why we believe that empowerment holds peculiar value in the whole P.R.I.C.E. framework. The crisis leaders who successfully dealt with the pandemic were the ones who humbly consulted public health experts and acted quickly by EMPOWERING their teams, and many were women; in contrast, male authoritarians who botched the response were suspicious of experts and too full of themselves.

The latest researchers on the organizational dynamics point out that companies with a larger number of female executives tend to perform better than with fewer women. However, it is not the gender gap that is causing all the difference. The female-led companies were found more open, egalitarian, and empowering, and these traits are making the difference.

WE GO HARD – WE GO EARLY

Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, implemented an elimination policy of strict and complete lockdown, in a way that earned the trust and respect of her nation. Her messages were direct - no room for confusion- and her manner was both authoritative and friendly. “We go hard, we go early,” she said, sounding like a rugby coach, and everyone, it turns out, listened.

She killed it on the clear and concise messaging about this pandemic, and that’s before we even get to the fact that she, along with her ministers, took a 20% pay cut for six months and then there was that press conference where she confirmed that the Easter bunny was, of course, a key worker. She was not waffling like many of her male counterparts during the times of crisis. New Zealand was among the first countries which declared victory in the war against coronavirus.

NO WAFFLING – NO RAMBLING – NO KIDDING

Germany, with lesser cases, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has a science background, became a noticeable Coronavirus anomaly in contrast to mainland Europe with millions of confirmed cases and tens of thousands of deaths.

The comparatively low numbers have been accredited to Germany’s stringent and widespread testing program and its swift response to targeting and isolating cases. Merkel herself was praised for her televised address, the first since she became Chancellor in 2005, she forcefully highlighted the importance of the pandemic, and how seriously the German people should respond to measures.

“Since German unification, no, since World War II, there has been no greater challenge to our country that depends so much on us acting together in solidarity,” Merkel said. One again, no waffling, rambling, or any confusion at all.

ASK THE DOCTOR!

President Tsai Ing-wen’s country Taiwan is one of the least affected countries, by the coronavirus pandemic, in the world. This surprised many, given China’s proximity to the Island. (Mainland China also claims Taiwan to be its part since the 1950s).

While many leaders around the world were gawking at the rising numbers in early 2020, Tsai Ing-wen’s government, empowered by an epidemiologist vice president, banned travel, and rolled out island-wide testing, including retesting people with unexplained pneumonia. There were less than a thousand cases in a 24 million populated country.?

PLUSH CUSHIONS VS. GLASS CLIFFS:

Psychologists opine that by the time a woman political or corporate leader reaches the pinnacle of her power, she already has made her bones in a race of hurdles.

The path women leaders take to power is usually more challenging than that faced by men. That may be the reason that women are more to be appointed to leadership positions that are “risky and precarious,” which is termed as a “glass cliff ” phenomenon.

This is a position with no second chances, so the women have to make more judicious first-time decisions. On the other hand, Boris Johnsons, and Donald Trumps of the world, with their documented history of lies, scandals, business failures, including several bankruptcies, never seem to run out of second chances.