😟 Traditional leadership
Repeats outdated ideas about leading
To support all gender identities in leading roles, avoid masculine stereotypes and rigid hierarchies when discussing leadership.
![Illustration of a diverse group with 5 people of different ages, body shapes and ethnic background](https://www.witty.works/hubfs/diverse%20groupe%20.png)
Basic Example
![](https://www.witty.works/hubfs/Traditional%20leadership-1.png)
Advanced Example
![](https://www.witty.works/hubfs/Traditional%20leadership%20Advanced-1.png)
Throughout history, ideas of an effective leader matched ideas of masculine traits – single-minded, competitive, and authoritarian. People with feminine traits were not deemed leadership material. But our ideas of what we need from leaders today are evolving. Avoiding male-leader stereotypes helps build a space where people with the ability to be supportive, to encourage, and inspire us to work together toward a common cause can take on leadership responsibilities, regardless of their gender identity.
👍
We'll meet the new supervisor later. I've heard they'll also communicate expectations and shared goals for new research and development projects.👎
We'll meet the new boss later. It seems he'll also take the lead on new R&D projects.Doesn't resonate with
- People who enjoy interacting and collaborating while working toward shared milestones
- Everyone who identifies as a woman
- People inspired and motivated by a greater shared purpose
- The generation born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s
Shout-outs
- Why diversity matters (Dame Vivian Hunt, Dennis Layton, and Sara Prince)
- Women in the Workplace 2022 (Alexis Krivkovich, Lareina Yee, Wei Wei Liu, Ishanaa Rambachan, Nicole Robinson, Hilary Nguyen, Monne Williams)
- Gender bias at work: The assertiveness double-bind (Felicity Menzies)
- Can Leaders Step Outside of the Gender Box? An Examination of Leadership and Gender Role Stereotypes (Margaret Y. Padget, Craig B. Caldwell, Andrew Embry)
- Let’s Stop Talking About “Female” Leadership Traits (Susan Colantuono)