Tip to Women Leaders: Pull out the Boxing Gloves

Intriguing. A recent article called, “Think you got it bad? Try being the boss” by Harvey Schachter of Canada’s Globe and Mail profiles a book by Anthony Smith called the Taboos of Leadership which essentially talks about the necessary evils required as a leader. In his top 10 summary of the book, Schachter writes, “In the real world, leadership is not always the most effective when it is most caring, open, transparent, sensitive and empowering – the traits thought particularly comfortable for women – and in fact fear, manipulation, ruthlessness, power hoarding and the competitive will to win at all costs are common characteristics of effective leaders. All leaders have to understand that leadership is messy. Men and women have the tools to be leaders, and can learn from each other.” To read more on this article, click here. Reminds me of when I was first teaching Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership and came across anthropologists and business people duking it out online. See examples of leadership nature vs nature discussions here and here.