Men reject womenís need to be at the top

The majority of male managers feel that if significantly more women were in leadership positions it would make no difference to the performance of their organisation, according to a new survey.

Figures from the upcoming HRG/ILM survey on Women and Leadership suggest that 51% of men feel that having women at the top would make no difference to the performance of their organisation compared to 49% who feel they would.

When women were asked the same question only 13% said no suggesting that men in middle to higher management positions may not see womenís journey up the career ladder as necessarily important.

Dee Waite, director of personal development at the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) feels that men need to shift their perspective of business if women are to break through to the top.

ëBusiness has survived up to this point by aggression and men see the business world in this way. Women offer a view of business which is more people centred something men compartmentalise as for the home.

ëBusiness is becoming more people-centred for a range of reasons and so men need to respond. Both men and women have the skills it is just that we are pigeon-holed by gender at work,í she said.

Jonathan Gosling, director of the Centre for Leadership Studies agrees with Waite on these issues. Male managers need to change their viewpoint, he says. Women at the top would make a difference to business performance, as companies are finding.

ëChiefly because the talent pool would be that much larger and because gender diversity would encourage openness to other kinds of difference such as creativity.

ëThere is also evidence to show that companies in trouble appoint more women to leadership positions ñ including main board directorships ñ as one of the more consistent recovery measures,í he says.

For best-selling leadership author, David Taylor, it is a matter of the qualities female leaders bring to a company. For him it is a matter of women being able to care more than men:

ëThey would care more ñ for their customers, for their people, for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and for our world.

ëAnd in this next business age this is absolutely critical and customers/shareholders will make decisions depending on it ñ purpose, accountability and reputation,í he says.