Women in charge: focus

While still greatly under-represented, women have been taking the helm not only of publicly-traded businesses in increasing numbers, but also, interestingly, of family-owned business. This is a promising development for at least a couple of reasons.

First, the corporate scandals of recent years have their roots largely in poor corporate governance, usually resulting from boards that are either inattentive or intimidated by assertive management. Family-owned businesses are known for asserting themselves over professional management regarding issues of corporate vision and policy: they know what they want, and they won’t be denied - these are important strengths in any policy-generating and supervisory body.

Second, all other things being equal, women tend to bring fundamental advantages to the role of the final decision-making authority in organizations. Men seem to have an inherent ability to make rules and procedures that allow the building of structures in which people can work together with a minimum of emotional involvement. That is, men can create organizations in which they can collaborate even if they don’t get along particularly well.

Women, on the other hand, are more focused on the purpose of the collaboration. Men tend to become wrapped up in the rules and procedures they have constructed, sometimes so much so that they forget the purpose of the endeavor. Women typically will never fail to see the forest because of the trees in the way; they will modify - even abandon - rules that distract from pursuit of the ultimate goal.

Both sexes can be aggressive, and even combative, but an organization is generally better off under a chair or a chief executive who deploys that assertiveness in the service of fundamental organizational goals - not of derivative bureaucratic posturing or procedure.