In 2003, two women professors analyzed 45 studies of gender differences in leadership styles. According to the NYTimes, June 25, 2006 at WK3, “women managers tended to be — on average — more collaborative than men, more encouraging to subordinates, more likely to include them in decisions. Men were more likely to lead by top-down command, or to be strictly hands-off, distant.” (See my posts of Jan. 14, 2006 regarding cognitive diversity; Dec. 4, 2005 about diversity efforts not aimed at women; April 18, 2005 on some Meyers-Briggs gender differences; and Dec. 5, 2005 on other gender differences between executives.).
In the not too distant future, as many women as men will be heads of legal departments. All to the good! The authors add that “women score higher on transformational leadership, modeling good behavior, working with people, letting people know when they’re doing a good job.”