by Truphie Kwaka-Sumba
Recently I read an article about how this beautiful lady was great on the pageant runway but amazingly the article suggested she was also a serious professional in the aviation industry. The article reminded me of the common joke especially in the west of ‘dumb blondes’. It seems that society does not expect beautiful women to also have the brains to do something or even lead. On the other hand for years here in Africa certain industries only recruited women with certain features; the airline industry was one such example, where air hostess had to be of a particular complexion, height and waist. An events company MD once clarified that companies in the events industry could only survive if their employees were beautiful women (read: light in complexion, slim and fashion conscious). According to him, when such women were serving clients and looking for new business leads they were almost guaranteed to win many jobs.
Studies have been done to investigate the link between beauty and leadership. Some suggest that beautiful people are more likely to be given a chance rather than those perceived less beautiful. However, in leadership, there is a negative correlation between attractiveness and selection for leadership. This phenomenon is known as ‘beauty beastly effect’. A woman leader’s attractiveness negatively affects her followers trust and followership. It almost seems that women are between a rock and a hard place.
In the last US elections, Hillary Clinton’s look was over analyzed and formed many headlines and commentaries to the extent that some even suggested she needed to change her look, including her hair color. Maybe now Tina Turner could sing ‘what’s leadership got to do, got to do, got to do with it?’ This article will not answer that question but rather encourage women leaders and those aspiring to focus on the key leadership traits that are upheld world over.
High ethical and moral standards:Years ago it was assumed that women were more trustworthy than men. This was until stories were unearthed of how women were part of a gang of carjackers and could even rob with violence. Ethical and moral standards are not biological traits. They are choices individuals make to live according to certain values and principles. A leader with high ethical standards upholds fairness, justice, trust and transparency. In turn people feel they are in a secure environment. As humans we are wired to run away from insecure environments, but with high ethical standards we can create enviable secure environments.
Provides and communicates clear goals but allows individual drive:True leaders have a clear vision of the destination but realize they do not have all the wisdom and knowledge of how to get there. They need other people. God was so fair in ensuring that everyone has something they can contribute. When each part plays their role and brings their best to the table, we make a big whole and a more enjoyable and fulfilling journey. Articulating the vision is critical for everyone to know where the bus is headed. The leader must also allow individual team members room to make decisions and contribute. One of the worst kind of leader to have is a micro-manager. One who wants to determine your every move – it is either their way or the highway! Underpinning this clarity is the ability to communicate it clearly. Communication enables leadership, it helps in giving a shared meaning and purpose between leaders and followers.
Flexibility and Openness: The only thing that is constant is change. Leading in these complex times requires a high degree of flexibility and openness. It is false to imagine that the winning strategies of yesterday will always be the winners for today and tomorrow. You just need to look at cameras and banking. Kodak established themselves as the kings in the photograph industry. I still remember developing negatives and building albums. Little did they know that they would soon be extinct with the coming of the digital technology that revolutionized how and when photography is done. Equity Bank in Kenya disrupted the banking model. Banking was a preserve of well known, steady income earners. Equity disrupted this trend by introducing flexibility and took the largest share of the unbanked who were by far the majority in comparison to the banked. As a result even the big banks have adopted flexibility and openness. An effective leader needs to be flexible and be open to ideas.
Proven track record in expertise field:One of the most critical things is to be an expert in their field. Followers follow their perceived leader for many reasons but one of the enduring reasons is because their leader is great at what they do – not just good at it! True expertise creates confidence in you and inspires trust in followers. It is important for leaders to keep learning and ensure they are an expert in something. They must keep the lead. As an expert, you can better tell the trends of the future and ready your organization for futuristic disruptions. You give technical advice and separate your organization from mediocrity and facades that sometimes derail organizations. Experts tend to have industry wide respect and they can leverage it to gain networks for business and opportunities for themselves and their organizations. However, as you rise to the top you also must also sharpen your strategic and people skills as those become the focus. In addition, leaders cannot be experts of everything, they must ensure that their core team possess other complementary skills to them.
Ladies, it doesn’t matter whether you are ranked among the beautiful, it is critical that you are ranked among the most effective leaders.
