The conversation all around the globe focuses on gender diversity in upgrading leadership that provides fairness and equal opportunity for both men and women in society. While this is considered a distinguished important aspect, there are compelling barriers to be removed and challenges to be solved for thoroughly empowering women in leadership from a purely business sector.
A study done by Salloum, C., Azzi, G., Mercier-Suissa, C. and Khalil, S. in 2016 shows that business entities with more women at the helm outperform their counterparts in terms of productivity and performance. The miracle does happen overnight there are reasons behind as stated below:
Gender Diversity Stirs Innovation
Imagine in a company where no opinions or new views arise on how to perform the work better. While such a scenario simplifies reaching a consensus and attaining quick agreement, it is unlikely to promote strong groundbreaking perspectives. Gender diversity in leadership fosters genuine ideas in the business.
Women always present compelling different views to the table, leading to a wider range of opinions that easily solve challenges, which is advantageous for today’s drastically changing business arena.
Maximum Teamwork and a Stronger Bottom Line
According to Clark-Crockett, research of 2019, women leaders tend to excel in business because they employ collaborative leadership styles. They collaborate by prioritizing communication, building cohesion and promoting a sense of involvement for everyone thus creating strong teamwork in business.
This collaborative approach leads to maximum employee engagement, higher morale and better performance in a business. A happy and motivated labour force created by women’s style of leadership is more productive for the sustainability of the business entity.
A Wider Talent Pools
For ages, leadership opportunities have been limited to only one-half of the population making businesses lack the genetic pool of talents present in the second half. The emerging gender empowerment of women in grabbing leadership roles gives business companies access to a wider range of skills and a diversity of experiences that could never be obtained by men.
This improves the chances of obtaining the best person for the particular business and sends powerful information to all the stakeholders in business that hard work and talent are valued in the presence of gender diversity.
Understanding and Accessing the Market
Women represent a significant portion of the population in the world. Considering the higher population women as an important section of consumers of most of the goods produced, widens the market to a larger extent. Having women in leadership positions allows companies to better delve into understanding the preferred products and services to be presented in a community.
This narrows down the marketing strategies to the target population and develops products that meet the demands of most of the consumers hence higher sales and brand awareness.
Role Models and Mentorship
Successful women in leadership roles develop a sense of inspiration for the next generation. Women such as H.E. Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, the current President of Tanzania, and Ellen Jonson Sirleaf, the Former President of Liberia send a clear message that there are no barriers to development and that any woman can achieve full potential in either politics or business.
Moreover, women leaders serve as mentors for other women promoting a culture of pulling others to the higher stages of development. This being applied in business can maximize profit and reduce operation costs towards a prosperous community.
The evidence is irresistible: Businesses with a greater percentage of gender diversity in leadership perform better than their less diverse counterparts. Innovation, talent acquisition, employee engagement and market understanding are undeniable benefits present on the plate when women are empowered in leadership, especially from a business perspective.
Therefore, businesses that want to tap the maximum potential of the workforce need to promote gender diversity in leadership strongly. This can be attained through creating inclusive hiring practices, offering women mentorship programs, and fostering a culture that embraces gender diversity in business development. Indeed, investing in women leaders entails business investing in their success.
