3 Qualities That Women In Leadership Roles Should Possess

The institutional and societal barriers that have for generations prevented women from participating in the workforce, have largely faded into irrelevance. Today, we women find ourselves in senior leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies, media organisations, NGOS, and even the government. We've overcome a lot to have come this far, and it has taken considerable perseverance, trial and error, and on the job learning.

Thus, with a whole new generation of women entering the workforce, destined for success, it's our duty to bestow upon them the knowledge we've acquired through our experiences during our careers. While hard work, confidence, and discipline are essential to career growth, leadership is a very different art to master.

Thus, here are a few qualities that women need to perfect, in order to become the leaders of tomorrow:

Multi-tasking
Scientifically speaking, the female brain has proven to be highly adept at performing multiple tasks simultaneously, with minimal errors. This ability to multitask is a key factor that makes women effective leaders. Leadership in general involves managing and coordinating the activities of one's subordinates, and adapting to real world conditions, hence an ability to multitask is a great asset.

Empathy
Women display a high capacity for emotional intelligence, and have an astounding affinity for empathy. Leadership involves dealing with human beings, and a large component of this activity relates to understanding how to bring out the best in people so they perform to the best of their abilities. Empathy is and emotional intelligence are vital assets in determining how to get the best out of one's team. Being a woman manager/ leader is most definitely NOT about 'acting like a man' and emotions are not a weakness.

Order in chaos
Women tend to be extremely meticulous with their tasks, and keep a cool head even in unfavourable situations. This ability to stay level headed, especially in cases that warrant thoughtfulness over knee-jerk reactions makes women desirable leaders, especially in high-stress occupations. There is no need to dumb yourself down because people are threatened by your ability to stand up in difficult situations.

Several qualities that women naturally happen to be essential attributes of good leaders. Thus, as women, we must capitalise on our natural advantages by developing them from an early stage; especially in a world where we're no longer defined by our gender, but by the quality of our work.