7Women’s Day independentAUGUST 11 2013

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FOR MANY years therehas been an urban leg-end which describes anAfrican woman whichgoes like this: Leave ahome to a 12-year-old girl

as the leader, you will find every-thing in place. Leave a home with aboy of the same age, on your returnyou will find your home in tatters, ina disastrous condition. The moral ofthe story: leadership responsibility.

Across the world, when compa-nies choose leaders to take them tonew heights, they are always look-ing for responsibility. A leader hasto be responsible, lead by example,and must be honest and hard-work-ing.

As we celebrate August asWomen’s Month, we are alwaysprompted to ask: Why then areSouth African women and womenaround the world still laggingbehind in terms of national, inter-national and corporate leadership?The answer lies in us, the women.

Why do I say this? Many govern-ments, including our own, havedone well in terms of putting inplace legal and administrativemeasures to curb discriminationagainst women. Most constitutionsare no longer discriminatory, inter-national treaties protecting and pro-moting the civil and political rightsof women are in place.

For example, on the politicalfront, the representation of womenhas increased from 27.8 percent in1994 to 49.3 percent in 2010, puttingSouth Africa among the leadingcountries in the world in terms ofthe number of women in importantleadership positions.

Women represent an importanteconomic group in the changingcomposition of the marketplace andthe global economy. In fact, womenare a dominate force in the market-place. In South Africa, women rep-resent the overwhelming majorityof consumers and a growing seg-ment of women-owned or women-controlled businesses, generating

billions of rands in sales andemploying millions of people.

In the world of work, there is ascarcity of women in top leadership.Despite the documented progress ofwomen, there remains a scarcity ofwomen in executive roles and oncorporate boards of directors.

Women must take the prevailingpolitical environment as an oppor-tunity to take up leadership, it is noteasy but we must work hard, ignorethe intimidation and insults weencounter. This intimidation shouldnot stop our fight for equality butshould give us strength to move on.

However even though women’srepresentation in senior manage-ment in the public service hasimproved, representation of womenin the corporate boardrooms in theprivate sector remains a big chal-lenge.

Researchers have suggested thatwomen’s traditional roles as familycaregivers and nurturers have cre-ated a dilemma based on a complexblend of some real and some per-ceived differences between male andfemale managers.

This dilemma based on genderstereotypes puts women in a posi-tion where they are unassociatedwith management effectivenessbecause that label is associated withmale characteristics and they areassociated with nurturing commu-nal roles.

The issue is not whether womenare one or the other but that varia-tion exists and women can be eitheror both.

That is why the gender differ-ences in management and leader-ship styles have been the topic ofmuch research demonstrating thatthe problems of gender stereotypesimpact the leadership styles of menand women.

Several studies have identifiedwomen’s leadership styles to bemore interactive and transforma-tional whereas men’s style has beenidentified as more directive.

Other studies have shown thatthe leadership and managementstyles of female leaders are moreeffective and more humane becauseof women managers’ emphasis oncommunication, co-ordination, goodinterpersonal relationships, and col-lective success.

So why are women finding it dif-ficult to reach the upper echelons ofleadership and power. The answermay lie in cultural traits. A womanis socialised and made to believethat she cannot be a leader outsidethe traditional setting of a homeand made to believe that she must

always work twice as hard to berecognised as a leader either as acorporate executive or politicalleader.

No one doubts the ability ofwomen to assume any kind of lead-ership.

As we all know that culturalbeliefs can prevent women fromassuming leadership positions with-out a struggle, enhancing Africanwomen’s leadership must start atthe household level, where thebiggest hindrance is always located.

So how can women reach thetop? Look for strategies for buildingconfidence, risk-taking and improv-ing their professional personas,including learning to be assertive.

Many women tend to shy awayfrom assertiveness and self-promo-tion, and when they do promotethemselves, they do it poorly.

Women tend not to do it well, andthey’re often perceived to be aggres-sive when they do it.

Sometimes the women are sofocused on breaking down doorsthat they do not know how to actwhen they actually get through thedoor. As a result, many women needhelp developing business and lead-ership skills.

That is not difficult at all. Afterall, women are natural networkers.It’s easier, to some degree, forwomen to promote themselves in agroup with other women.

Women also tend to connect on amore personal level, sharing experi-ence and advice, not only aboutbusiness, but also about the ever-elu-sive goal of work-life balance.

The importance of networkingfor most of us most of the time… isto meet people who can help us do

our current jobs better and, on amore personal level, to feel a senseof connection and camaraderie.

I am always fascinated by otherwomen’s personal stories and thedifferent paths they’ve taken totheir careers.

Learning of similarities in ourbackgrounds or in the challenges weface personally or at work can becomforting, encouraging and help-ful, and learning about our differ-ences can be downright inspira-tional.

Once women start to developtheir voices and confidence at net-working events, though, they facethe challenge of putting whatthey’ve learned into practice. Andalthough many organisations havegender-equity policies in place, thesalary and leadership numbersshow that, clearly, those policies are

not always put into practice.Women need to learn how to

work successfully within the sys-tems in which they find themselves,rather than rail against them. Thatmeans being flexible and findingconsensus in their leadership style,rather than adopting an aggressive,unyielding “my way or the high-way” approach.

For women especially, if you’reseen as a top-down leader, or if thatreally is your leadership style,you’re likely to fail. Moreover,women leaders should cultivate loy-alty, rather than act in a mercilesscut-throat manner to get ahead.

It’s also critical that women havea big-picture understanding of theway their entire organisationworks, including the organisation’sfinancial aspects.

In many cases, the longer women

are in the workforce, the more thegender differences between menand women’s work and leadershipstyles begin to disappear, provingthat women are not fundamentallydifferent from men, they are justsocialised differently.

As we celebrate Women’s Month,let us remember Margaret Thatcher,who once said: “If you want any-thing said, ask a man; if you wantanything done, ask a woman.” Andyet the late first woman Britishprime minister will be remembered– for better or for worse – as one ofthe greatest visionary leaders in his-tory.

■ Van Wyk is chief executive of

AstroTech Training which offers

leadership development training.

Visit www.astrotech.co.za or call

0861 AstroTech.

Seeking visionary leaders among womenWomen leaders not fundamentally different from men,just socialised differently

Liza Van Wyk

Opinion

M B U Y I S E L O B O T H A

IHAVE often asked myself: whyengage men in gender equalityand gender transformation? Isit worthwhile, does it work, or isit just an elitist, appeasing

project that does little to tackle thereal issues faced by society?

I ask myself these questions aswe reflect on and commemorateWomen’s Month. Does work thattargets men for the promotion ofgender equality do anything toreally address behaviour?

A growing body of evidencehighlights that well-implementedprogrammes targeting men andboys can influence their attitudes,behaviours and their role as agentsof change in the achievement ofgender equality.

A studyby Gary Barker, Chris-tine Ricardo and Marcos Nasci-mento found that “well-designed

programmes with men and boysshow compelling evidence of lead-ing to change in behaviour andattitudes”.

An evaluation of the SteppingStones initiative in the EasternCape by the South African MedicalResearch Council (MRC) showedhuge changes in men’s attitudes andpractices. Over two years of follow-up, participants reported fewer con-current sexual partners, higher con-dom use, less transactional sex, lesssubstance abuse and less intimatepartner violence.

Similarly, evaluations to deter-mine the impact of Sonke GenderJustice’s One Man Can Campaign“indicated significant changes inshort-term behaviour in the weeksfollowing Sonke workshops with25 percent having accessed VCT,50 percent having reported acts ofgender-based violence and 61 per-cent having increased their own use

of condoms”. More than four out of five partic-

ipants at Sonke workshops alsoreported having subsequently talk-ed with friends or family membersabout HIV and Aids, gender andhuman rights.

So, the cynic would not be able toargue that engaging with men is anintervention that fails to bear fruit.

But the process that men need togo through to embrace genderequality is not always easy.

Men have to take a giant leap outof their comfort zone.

Many of us have been raised tointernalise that men are superior towomen and that men’s rightful placeis in charge.

We have been encouraged tobelieve that men should have thelast word, which has allowed us tobelieve that women don’t need to belistened to. We have been taught thatmen must be strong and in control

and therefore it’s okay to dominateand violate women. This is how weare expected to behave.

If we behave in a way that chal-lenges these notions of what itmeans to be a “real man”, there are

often a range of negative conse-quences to remind us what’s theright way to behave, what’s accept-able and what’s not. Those men whogo so far as to actually challenge andquestion patriarchy, are told theyare sell-outs and that they’re simplyappeasing the Western Eurocentricliberals, especially if they happen tobe a black man.

Men are grappling with under-standing masculinity in the 21stcentury, especially when women’sempowerment is mistakenly per-ceived as undermining men.

While many men may long forthe “good old days”, where men andwomen knew their place and lifeseemed simple, it would be benefi-cial for men to interrogate suchassumptions a bit more deeply.

Life may have seemed simple,but just because people did notexpress their unhappiness or frus-tration, does this mean they were

happy? Women weren’t allowed tochallenge their husbands, so nowonder the impression was giventhat they were content.

There are also many men whoare buckling every day under thepressures to fulfil this socially con-structed idea of what it means to bea man. Unemployed men unable toprovide lash out through violence orsexual promiscuity in desperateattempts to demonstrate their man-hood in other ways.

The world is changing and theway we think about how men andwomen “should” behave needs tochange with it.

There are various institutionsthat make it hard for men to pro-mote gender transformation.

These institutions continue tobe lead predominantly by men: bish-ops, CEOs, vice-chancellors, judges,heads of political parties and tradeunions, showing that they have not

embraced values such as equalityand transformation, and in doing so,send a sad and problematic mes-sage, especially to young women.

There is much that needs tochange about men and gender inour society, but it is difficult for mento do it alone.

This is why work that seeks toengage men in understanding andrealising the benefits of genderequality, for themselves, their fami-lies and their communities, isimperative. It does work, and thereare benefits for us as men but alsofor those we love and care for.

We should not be threatened bywomen’s empowerment but rathersee it as redressing the legacy ofpatriarchy that has not onlyoppressed women but us as well.

■ Botha is Government and

Media Relations Officer at Sonke

Gender Justice Network

Gender equality good for men too as patriarchy oppressed us all

“MEN ARE

GRAPPLING WITH

UNDERSTANDING

MASCULINITY

US President BarackObama meets withAfrican UnionCommissionchairwoman NkosazanaDlamini Zuma inJohannesburg in June.According to the writer,in the world of work,there is a scarcity ofwomen in topleadership.

PICTURE:REUTERS

Breakingbarriers