Leadership Trait for Successful Women Entrepreneurs - Research Paper Example

Leadership Trait for Successful Women Entrepreneurs The previous generations were characterized by very few women leaders. This was because leadership was associated with men who were considered to have access to political, military and economic power (DeCaro, DeCaro and Bowen-Thompson, 2010, p. 72). As a result the society, investors and the business industry has developed stereotyped attitudes against women which have led to perceptions that women are lesser than men in their leadership qualities. As a result women have faced challenges, barriers and limitations in achievement of their leadership ambitions. However, the opportunities which women have to start business enterprises as entrepreneurs would enable them to apply their unique attributes in a leadership style which would allow them to achieve success. The issue of leadership trait has been studied extensively which leaves us with a question of whether there is an appropriate leadership style that women should employ in order for them to be considered as successful and influential leaders. This paper presents a literature review on women entrepreneurs as leaders with a view of answering a question as to whether they require a specific leadership style or attributes for effectiveness and success as entrepreneurial leaders. Research has been conducted on leadership traits which are associated with gendered attributes. It has been argued therefore that the male gender has attributes that makes men more qualified for leadership positions (Burke and Collins, 2001, p. 244). This illustrates that women have been stereotyped within organizations and institutions. It is also argued that the diversity in the work place and the economic crises which are being experienced by the contemporary organizations are attributed to the limitations of leadership opportunities for women (Enhai, 2011, p. 111). The observation that the number of women who lead large organizations is smaller than that of men demonstrates the stereotyping of women leadership. Studies of typical leadership styles illustrate that women demonstrate some leadership qualities that are superior to that of men (Mukherji and Jain, 2009, p. 63). With the increased number of women who are venturing into entrepreneurship, it is necessary to determine the most appropriate leadership trait that would match with the natural attributes of women which would enable them to be effective leaders. The traditional gender stereotyping against women has reduced significantly over time (Lopez-Zafra, Garcia-Retamero and Berrios Martos, 2012, p. 97). Traditionally, financiers had wrong impressions of women who require capital for starting businesses. This has made them to have a hard time explaining to lenders and bankers why they need financing. This situation persisted regardless of the fact that women presented better business cases as compared to men (Greenberg and Sweeney, 2005, p. 32). These arguments demonstrate that there is a gap in knowledge on how and why this situation has changed over time. The changes that have been experienced in the modern business world include decreasing scores of men in managerial tests. Despite the emphasis that has been put on importance of teamwork, it is argued that men have scored lower than women who have contributory and collaborative leadership behaviour and support for teamwork (Psychogios, 2007, p. 169). Women entrepreneurs have been considered to have a higher emotional intelligence in leadership as compared to men (DeCaro, DeCaro and Bowen-Thompson, 2010, p. 75). Emotional intelligence is associated with ability of a leader to act as a role model and create confidence among followers. These are typical attributes of a transformational leadership trait (Smith-Hunter and Leone, 2010, p. 21). Women are said to have a strong need to connect to their subordinates, a situation which often leads to building of trusting relationship between the management and employees. The supportive attribute of women through a transformational model is therefore an advantage that female entrepreneurs have over men. It is therefore conclusive to say that women should apply a transformational leadership model so that they would gain the trust and confidence of their followers which would propel them to heights of success. Women entrepreneurs are generally described as leaders who value the creation of relationships (Trinidad and Normore, 2005, p. 554). In this sense it is true to say that a transformational leadership trait is connected to success in entrepreneurship ventures that are initiated and led by women. Through a transformational leadership approach, women entrepreneurs will be allowed to create an interactive, communicative and relational culture within the organizations which they lead. In return, the motivation of employees will be enhanced which is the most effective way of lowering employee turnover and the associated costs. The leadership presence of women in the modern economies is much higher (Burke and Collins, 2001, p. 245). This situation is unlike the past when women were considered to have difficulties in coping with a male dominated environment (Trinidad and Normore, 2005, p. 554). Additionally it was argued that female entrepreneurs had relatively more difficulties in raising capital for business activities. It is argued that the difficulties women have are associated with the perceptions of the society and have nothing to do with their abilities (Psychogios, 2007, p. 169). The modern business world is characterized by increasing diversity in work environments. This includes increasing accommodation of both gender in employment and reduced bias in recruitment. This illustrates a gap in research in the study of leadership abilities in diverse organizations instead of restricting the studies to male dominated environments. This is supported by the fact that dominance of the male gender in organizations will soon be a thing of the past (Lopez-Zafra, Garcia-Retamero and Berrios Martos, 2012, p. 105). Therefore the abilities of women entrepreneurs to be successful leaders will no longer be based on their capability of surviving in a male dominated work place. The desire that many women have for leadership positions has been restricted by societal, political and economic restrictions (Mukherji and Jain, 2009, p. 68). It is correct to say that there are differences between male and female leaders. However, these differences are not indications of a weakness on the side of women. The unique characteristics of female entrepreneurs is applied appropriately will make them great leaders to a point of surpassing the stereotyped standards. Male leaders have been portrayed to have aggressiveness, autonomy, courage, independence an instrumentality masculine attributes during leadership (Burke and Collins, 2001, p. 245). Female leaders on the other hand are described as being kind, expressive, relational, connected, tidy and supportive in leadership. These are societal and political attribution of women which should not discourage female entrepreneurs from applying their attributes with the appropriate leadership style so that they would achieve success in business management and leadership. Research has revealed major differences between men and women in terms of their leadership style. On one hand, men are considered action oriented, quasi military and hierarchical leaders. On the other hand women are considered transformational leaders with inclusive, open and consensus building attributes (DeCaro, DeCaro and Bowen-Thompson, 2010, p. 75). Therefore it is wrong to say that women entrepreneurs do not have to have special attributes for them to be good leaders. It is said that that good leaders are born and not made (Greenberg and Sweeney, 2005, p. 35). This illustrates that it is through effective application of their natural attributes that women entrepreneurs are enabled to achieve exemplary leadership. This would be enhanced by the application of a transformational leadership trait which has been determined by research findings to have a relationship with female traits. Moreover, transformational leadership has been associated with managerial success. Therefore women entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply their leadership as strength in promoting participation of employees in work activities. The advancement in technology and the adoption of information and communication technologies within the work place has greatly enhanced managerial and leadership functions (Enhai, 2011, p. 114). The use of information systems in the management of business enterprises and organizations is described as a motivational factor for women who have decided to venture into entrepreneurship. The interactivity that is made possible through technology such as the use of networked environment to enhance communication between the management and subordinates illustrates how it improves management. Collaborative environment is encouraged through a transformational leadership strategy (Taleb, 2010, p. 287). These arguments illustrate that women entrepreneurs should apply a transformational leadership trait with the aid of technology so that communication, collaboration, interaction and cohesiveness can be enhanced in the organizations. An effective leader is described as an expert who is able to allow teams of various projects within the organization to devise the best approach of solving a problem (Smith-Hunter and Leone, 2010, p. 21). This is a characteristic of a transformational leader. Women entrepreneurs should therefore allow their subordinates in the various functional areas of the business to interact and recommend the appropriate solution to a problem. This is explained by the fact that teams and employees are at a better position of understanding the challenges that they face and the things that they need so that they would effectively meet the objectives of the organization. However, it is argued that women entrepreneurs should be careful with an interactive approach in making decisions. This is to make sure that the suggestions of project teams are adequately evaluated to determine whether they are motivated by the achievement of organizational goals rather than individual interests. Critics of transformational leadership and the associated collaborative nature argue that it takes a long time to implement and thus less efficient (Nixdorff and Rosen, 2010, p. 74). However, it can be said that effectiveness in attaining the goals of a given project by the team would be more important than the efficiency in which results are realized. This is because efficiency does not guarantee that the desired results and objectives of a project will be realized. In this sense, it is demonstrated that all women entrepreneurs should practice a natural leadership that is based on their personality (Taleb, 2010, p. 285). Women leaders tend to favour teams and collaboration with these teams with friendship and information sharing being their main attributes. This leadership attribute is considered to be the most appropriate strategy of enhancing the productivity of employees within teams. The increased productivity results from the fact that the collaborative and information sharing culture of transformative leadership makes employees to share ideas and suggestions which provides innovative ways of solving problems. Therefore a transformational leadership trait is recommended as the most suitable approach of achieving success in managing a business venture, organization or a company. There seems to be a gap in knowledge on the relationship between the natural attributes of men and successful leadership. Research needs to go beyond describing men as good leaders from social, political and economic points of view (Burke and Collins, 2001, p. 247). Men should not be seen as default or natural leaders of large organizations because it is not the masculine abilities that determine successful leadership but proper application of leadership traits for successful attainment of goals (Jogulu and Wood, 2006, p. 236). It is important that the stereotyping of women as weaker in leadership is stopped because of the abilities than women have to equally apply good leadership traits which are in line with their natural attributes (Nixdorff and Rosen, 2010, p. 71). Women entrepreneurs are encouraged to rise and express their leadership abilities by applying their natural attributes as natural leaders so that they would be able to overcome the challenges, obstacles and stereotyping and become successful managers of large organizations. Higher employee satisfaction is described to be directly related to the transformational leadership approach (Kellison, 2002, p. 5). Therefore, this can be achieved by women entrepreneurs and thus make them successful in causing high productivity through employees who are satisfied with their jobs and working environment. It is argued that men usually occupy more leadership positions in large organization as compared to women. However, it can be illustrated that the opportunities which are available to women in the modern business world such as credit facilities would enable them to start entrepreneurial ventures which will grow into large enterprises and companies in which they would be top executives. Regardless of the fact that women leaders are said to have a softer approach in managing organizations, a proper approach to leadership is likely to enable them attain significant success in leadership (Enhai, 2011, p. 118). In conclusion, the desire of women for leadership capacities has been restricted by societal perceptions, economic and political factors. The stereotyping of women as not being suitable for leadership positions is disputed by the fact that the special abilities that women have can be used with a transformational leadership trait to achieve leadership success even in large organizations. The natural qualities of women leaders which include inclusive, relational and interactive nature in their relationship with subordinates are very advantageous. This leadership trait will therefore enable women entrepreneurs to cause employee satisfaction, improved morale and thus increase productivity among project teams, functional areas of a business and individual employees. However, the perceptions of who is an effective leader are changing gradually because women entrepreneurs and leaders are increasingly occupying high positions of leadership with exemplary performances. References Burke, S., and Collins, K. M. (2001). Gender differences in leadership styles and management skills. Gender in Management, 16(5), 244-256 DeCaro, F. P., DeCaro, N., and Bowen-Thompson, F. O. (2010). An Examination of Leadership Styles of Minority Business Entrepreneurs: A Case Study of Public Contracts. Journal of Business and Economic Studies, 16(2), 72-78 Enhai, Y. (2011). Are Women Entrepreneurs More Likely to Share Power than Men Entrepreneurs in Decision-Making? International Journal of Business and Management, 6(4), 111-119 Greenberg, H. M., and Sweeney, P. (2005). Leadership: Qualities that distinguish women. Financial Executive, 21(6), 32-36 Jogulu, U. D., and Wood, G. (2006). The role of leadership theory in raising the profile of women in management. 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