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GENDER POLITICS

juggling, too – researchers have discovered that women’s brains have a larger corpus collusum, the group of nerve fibres that connect the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Translation: women are speedier at transferring data between the two sides, making us much more flexible and better at multitasking. “The higher within a company you rise, the more likely it is you will be overseeing various projects, as opposed to concentrating on just one task, so the female multi-tasking gene is an invaluable leadership skill,” says Catherine Kaputa, author of The Female Brand (Davies-Black Publishing, £16.99).

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When it comes to leadership skills, women’s trump card is undoubtedly superior emotional intelligence. Even President Obama knows that when it comes to empathy, communication skills and intuition, women leave men in the dust. He recently acknowledged the difference between the sexes’ natural empathy were behind his decision to nominate a woman, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, to the Supreme Court. A high emotional IQ is increasingly recognised as being the most useful asset in the workplace. Traditionally, emphasis was placed on left-brain skills, the linear, logical and traditionally male functions controlled by the brain’s left hemisphere. But according to Daniel Pink, business analysts and author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future (Marshall Cavendish, £9.99), companies are learning the value of right-brain talents (empathy, inventiveness, communication) which are typically female qualities. “Those are the abilities that matter most in today’s world,” he says. Right-hand brain skills (held by men) are increasingly vulnerable because computers can do their work. What’s valuable now, at work, are those

skills that can’t be replicated by a machine. Skills that women naturally excel at. It’s hardly groundbreaking news to learn that women are better at reading non-verbal clues than men. Who hasn’t had to spell out a toxic atmosphere at a dinner party to their boyfriend when every woman at the table clocked it hours ago? We’re better at reading the emotions written on people’s faces and noting their body language. Why? The female brain develops from the front backwards while men’s develop the opposite way round. It means that women have a better-developed frontal cortex, which is the emotional centre of

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the brain that controls our empathy and intuition. We also have that thicker corpus callosum, which provides a swifter superhighway for processing social messages, such as reading the morale of the group, or the mood of a colleague. It helps to give women another source of information beyond rational analysis. “Women’s physiological differences mean female bosses can pick up on unspoken signals of frustration and confusion in the workplace. When people feel listened to and understood – they pay you back by liking you and supporting you in return,” explains Kaputa. This skill is particularly useful in the current precarious working environment. “Women’s superior emotional intelligence makes them more skilled at building emotional ties and fostering a sense of ‘we’re all in this together’ which gets better results from staff who feel like they’re invested in the outcome too.”

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“NOW, LET ME JUST SORT OUT THIS RECESSION NONSENSE”

Listen to your partner’s phone conversation – is it peppered with more grunts and quotes from Flight Of The Conchords than actual exchanges of information? Thought so. That’s because women are generally much better communicators as our brains are better

“Women’s inclusive leadership style means they lead in a way that doesn’t seek to have power over people”

networked for language. Girls start speaking around a month before boys, use a wider vocabulary much earlier and statistics prove we are far better readers. According to a research by Louannn Brizendine, author of The Female Brain (Bantam Books, £8.99), adult women can process 20,000 words a day compared to 7,000 a day for adult men. That’s because we have 11% more brain cells in the planum temporale in the brain, the area that deals with perceiving and processing language. Our superior language skills make us better communicators at work and mean

we can develop stronger relationships with staff and clients. Maureen Mills, who runs one of London’s leading restaurant PR companies, Network London, agrees. “It’s all about relationships and an empathetic approach. I try to get under the skin of my clients to understand how they work in both their restaurants and their private lives. It makes it more personal and a bit more nurturing, which women naturally do more than men.”

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Traditional stereotype gender roles have a significant impact on emotional evolution. As women looked after the family and home, they delegated chores to the children, came up with solutions when food was scarce and generally involved everyone in keeping the cave shipshape. Men went out to hunt. Solo. With only the forest to answer to. And so women ended up developing a skill that’s invaluable in today’s workplace. It’s been named transformational managing, which means that women take on a more collective approach to leadership – encouraging more open discussion, cultivating talent and sharing credit. As Kaputa puts it: “In general, women are more comfortable with a management style that is less concerned with a rigid hierarchy. That more inclusive, collegial style is what gets results in global companies today.” Men, on the other hand, tend to have a more directive management style. Historically, they're used to a succeed- or-fail mentality that they simply reward obvious success and punish mistakes. It doesn’t take long to work out which one gets the best results. Kaputa says: “Women’s inclusive leadership style means they lead in a way that doesn’t seek to have power over people but empowers others instead. Consulting others on important decisions, conducting brainstorming sessions and giving public credit to people when they contribute – it all results in loyal, committed, hardworking colleagues and employees.”

So there you have it, what women have known all along – females are naturally better suited to taking the lead at work. And after years of hammering away at the glass ceiling, it might sound like a radical about-turn to suggest that we’re actually primed for a take-over, but the figures have got our backs. It’s now estimated that women currently own 48% of the nation’s personal wealth, set to rise to 60% by 2025. And, by 2033, according to research commissioned by Microsoft, the UK workplace will be dominated by women. “The 21st century is the era of female leadership style,” says Kaputa. “Today’s companies need flexible leaders who can lead through inspiration, not dictatorship. It’s time for women to step up.”

Annoyingly, men are naturally better at…

SPEEDY DECISIONS While women 1 are more likely to procrastinate, men are more confident and faster at making decisions. This style of decision-making instils trust and respect in employees and makes them feel like their leader knows best. “Stop second-guessing yourself,” advises The Female Brand author Catherine Kaputa. “Try talking through your self-doubts with a third party so that you can lead your team with confidence.”

SELF- PROMOTION It’s unnatural for 2 a woman to ‘big’ herself up – she hopes her work does the talking – but men will happily make sure everyone knows what he’s achieved. And because women are more likely to take a collaborative approach to decision making they often end up getting less credit for the result. “Women need to find their own style for self promotion,” says Kaputa. “Rather than talking about yourself, tell a story about a project and how you helped solve a difficult situation. That way, you’re not bragging about yourself, you’re telling a story about a business event that portrays you in a positive way.”

NETWORKING While we might be regularly praised for 3 our communication skills and are naturally better relationshipbuilders, we’re actually not as adept at networking as men. That’s because women are reluctant to build ‘transactional’ relationships as they feel unnatural to us. We prefer deeper relationships with a smaller number of people, while men are happier with a large number of shallow relationships. “This comes down to realising the value that a large network can bring to your business,” explains Kaputa. “Resist assuming that ‘networking’ is fake – both parties know this is a professional relationship and therefore doesn’t adhere to the same rules.”

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