But the recession will soon be over and unless women work hard to develop their leadership skills, their route up the corporate ladder will be as difficult as it used to be before the recession. Women need to respond to some specific challenges and questions. In particular, the topic of authenticity. Do women have an authenticity problem?
There is a misperception among women that they need to be like men in order to be successful. Often, they try to emulate a male model and the result would be toning down their feminine style, for example by smiling less, by suppressing an inclination to be ‘warm and nice’, or by dropping the pitch of their voice. Indeed, agentic male behaviours such as projecting self-confidence, ambition, power or being in control, are associated with effective leadership. But doing only what men do is not enough. When women are perceived only as agentic, they violate the gender stereotype, which prescribes communal female values such as being helpful, friendly, caring and gentle. The result is a perception of lack of authenticity. Interestingly, uppity women are subjected to more sexual harassment as a form of punishment for being ‘deceitful’.
In order to be successful, women need to be perceived not only as agentic, but also as communal. Take Indra Nooyi, the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, for example. On the one hand, she is very agentic and projects confidence and control in negotiations, but on the other – she is a very caring, warm and maternal boss, who feels happy to give employees advice on how to dress correctly. Neglecting the communal aspect of behaviour could lead to perceptions of being unauthentic with all the negative consequences for female leaders.
Crises can serve as opportunities. This current downturn is an opportunity that women can ill afford to waste. Re-examining authenticity is a good starting point.
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