South: Crown World Mobility notes changing views on leadership

According to Crown World Mobility, a global company which helps corporations manage global talent, rapidly-changing opinions about what makes a strong leader could be the spark that finally puts women on the road to equality.

Last year the Harvard Business Review claimed people rise to the top in business when they are seen as matching a set of pre-existing beliefs that individuals hold about leadership. Such views have traditionally had a masculine slant, and women still make up only 16% of those working abroad on international-mobility programmes, despite a concerted effort by corporations to try and break the 20% barrier.

Joanne Danehl, global intercultural and language-training expert at Crown World Mobility, believes that that is changing. She argues that whereas six or seven years ago the traits people valued in a leader were decisiveness, risk-taking and competitiveness, now businesses are looking for consensus building, inclusive decision-making and the ability to build relationships and handle complexity.

Danehl claims: “It’s no longer just about what is said in a meeting which matters. Reading a room and getting it right is just as important. “It’s all about emotional quotient, intuition and integrity.”

She adds: “What strikes me is that not only are these competencies much more feminine but also that they are skillsets often learned by working globally in a culturally-diverse environment.  Cultures such as the Chinese and Japanese traditionally understand the tone of the room far better than western cultures. So, working in a global environment can help build those skills, too.

“Nobody is saying men cannot be great leaders, of course they can. But it is clear women have an opportunity here to close the gap. It’s certainly something to think about.”

The move towards valuing women in leadership has been marked over the past few years. A report by Grant Thornton in 2015 showed company boards which included women outperformed all-male boards by up to 25%.

The most-valued leadership competencies for five years’ time, predicted in 2016 by The Conference Board are leading change, global thinking, retaining and developing talent, learning agility and creativity.