or decades, women
thought they had to be
like men to get ahead. Our
F
voices had to be deeper,
our emotions buried even
deeper and our shoulders broader (hence
the Eighties shoulder-pads, hideous back
then, suddenly stylish now). We battled
against stereotypes of too ‘nurturing’ or
‘intuitive’ (read: ‘not tough enough’, or
‘not analytical enough’) to handle senior
management jobs. But not anymore.
As the country begins wading through
the collateral damage left over from the
recession, one thing has come across
loud and clear. Nearly all those
responsible for making the decisions that
plunged us into the worst recession of our
lifetime were men. As the renowned
financial analyst Anna Cecilie Holst
succinctly put it: “I don’t think Lehman
Sisters would have taken the same risks
as Lehman Brothers.”
As a result, companies are now
seeing more of the women they employ
����WWW�STYLIST�CO�UK
WHY
WOMEN ARE
BORN
TO BE THE
BOSS
New scientific research shows it’s women, not men, who are genetically
hard-wired to rule at work. Step aside, boys: the tide’s about to turn
as potential leaders. “Employees are
recognising the traits that women
possess which men don’t – empathy,
communication, multi-tasking – and
are realising how effective these skills
are in leadership roles,” says Suzanne
Doyle Morris, a business coach and
author of a new book, Beyond The Boys’
Club (£13.99, Wit And Wisdom Press).
Along with the ability to pick up a wet
towel, switch off the football and walk past
a trainer shop without going inside, women
have five inherent abilities which make
them naturally superior leaders. These five
strengths have been dubbed ‘The Female
Factor’ and, by recognising and harnessing
them, we have the ability to rule the world,
or at least our office. As for men? Bless ’em.
Against ‘The Female Factor’, the poor
things don’t stand a chance.
���WOMEN�DON’T�JUMP�
STRAIGHT�IN
Women are innately more risk averse than
men, meaning we’re more likely to weigh
WORDS: KATE BURT
up the options and look at how likely it is
that a project will succeed before we go
ahead and sign off the cheque or make
a decision. As businesswoman Nicola
Horlick puts it: “I have absolutely no
doubt that the world would have looked
totally different if women had been in
charge.” So why are we less gung-ho than
our male colleagues? Testosterone, the
same hormone that makes men unable to
ask for directions or abide to the ‘it’s the
taking part that counts’ rulebook, also
translates to clouded judgement and a
higher appetite for risks, according to Dr
John Coates, a neuroscientist at Cambridge
University. As women only have 10% of
the testosterone men have, we’re naturally
more stable and risk adverse.
Our avoidance of high-stake situations
means we’re being seen as more reliable
leaders by employers, especially since
studies have shown that financial
companies that promoted and supported
women have suffered fewer losses
than most in the recession. And at
French business school Ceram,
Professor Michel Ferrary published a
report which found that the fewer female
managers a company has, the more its
share price has dropped since the
beginning of last year.
In other words, with women in the
driving seat, we may take slightly longer
to get there, but it’s more unlikely we’ll
crash, speed or break down along the way.
���WOMEN�HAVE�
SUPERIOR�JUGGLING�
SKILLS
You only need to ask a man a question
while he’s attempting his latest Jamie
Oliver creation and witness the ensuing
pandemonium to know that our
multitasking skills are far superior. Women
can turn their attention to dinner, online
shopping and an in-depth chat all at the
same time, but men’s attention can’t waver
from the task at hand. As well as centuries
of practice, there’s a physiological
reason we’re better suited to
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