Leadership Discussion pt. 2

Dr. Eagly comments after her presentation were interesting yet sorted.  There were at least two statements that stood out to me.  The first was her research was to find empirical answers to gender and leadership questions which, till then, psychologists were not able to do.  I point to this because I thought her answers were still normative to some degree.  When discussing leadership and how women can advance, she mentioned overcoming stereotypes, nurturing women's approach and not having to be like a man.  Those critiques provide an answer but not one that is factual on a plan to accomplish the goal at hand.  Another point of her argument was not to study women for leadership roles because they did not have them.  I do not think this perspective helps her position.  It would be good to study women to see how leadership is missing what they can provide.  Her study can be assisted by seeing the qualities that women would bring as improvements instead of seeing how the genders are different.

The balance question is another topic all together.  She later inferred that the bias is continued by men promoting men and masking it as only hiring the best person for the job without considering women.  Gender equality will be brought about by equal power was something else she offered.  However to have an admitted feminist stance and speaking at a women on top conference, what type of equality or balance is trying to be achieved.  I think appropriate balance can be created by accepting that the genders are different.  Let's understand that there are different beliefs in how to move forward by each.  Men have pursued those roles as a feat to perform for as long as we can remember.  To see how that was completed and the results of it, could respond with women wanting the same but not in the same way that they were able to see it happen.  If we could see what feminine characteristics are sought by men, it would open the door to a discussion on how this can be reversed in some way.  The possibility to begin there exist but I do not know where it shall end.

What she is speaking about makes me want to question what the goal a person is attempting to reach is.  There are people on both sides that want to take from the other to create their own space instead of accentuating the positives of how they can complement each other.  I feel that anyone is worth listening to and has a right to their opinion.  You never know when the next great individual will utter words that can change the future.  And this can come from either gender.  I think it is important to be ready for those words whenever they are spoken or written.  We should also prepare for the opposite too.  As someone could simply be designing their own agenda with the support of credentials and an organization to say they are credible even though their message is destructive and polar.