Have a Central Story

In Gardner's view, leaders must (to have) a central story or message that individuals and groups can readily (to identify) with; they will agree on the story or message even years later. Leaders also (to embody) their stories. They (to convey) their stories by their example.

In addition, Gardner says, “stories must in some way (to help) audience members to think through who they are.” And stories must (to do) more than provide background. “They should (to help) an audience frame future options.”

Fit the Story to the Audience

“It is the leader,” Gardner notes, “who (to succeed) in conveying a new version of a given group’s story who (to be) likely to be effective. Effectiveness here (to involve) fit—the story (to need) to make sense to audience members at this particular moment in terms of where they have been and where they would like to go.”

Presenting Data is not enough

(to be) there a place for stories in today’s corporate world? Clearly, presenting data alone (to be) not enough—and too often (to detract) from the objective. Gardner quotes no less an authority than IBM CEO Louis V. Gerstner: “You’ve got to appeal to people’s emotions. They’ve got to buy in with their hearts and beliefs, not just their minds.”

from PS for Business Communicators^®, ECG

Task 7

Answer the questions, using the given phrases.

to improve one’s communicative and analytic skills; character is more difficult to teach; his/her view of the world; a strategy of expanding the company; any short list includes his/her name; the most impressive public figure in the world today; to withstand; to continue to speak out on issues of concern in a constructive and inclusive manner; to embody human qualities.

1. Can leadership skills be developed through training?

2. Among today's business leaders, whom would you single out as the most extraordinary?

3. Among current public figures, whom would you select as the most extraordinary?

5. Do male and female have different leadership style?

Task 1

Answer the questions before reading the text.

1. Who do you prefer to have as your boss – a man or a woman?

2. Have you ever noticed any difference between male and female leadership styles?

3. Women are very emotional; does it influence their manner of leadership?

Task 2

Read the text.

Are men so much more acceptable in positions of authority because women “do power” differently?

There are two models of women’s leadership style: women are exactly like men, and women are different, but equally competent. Women’s and men’s leadership styles are socially constructed in interaction and heavily influenced by the situational context and how other perceive/s them. If women in positions of authority tend to be more accessible, to grant more autonomy, but also to be more demanding of subordinates to perform well, the reason may be that they are in weaker positions in the organization and have fewer resources. They need subordinates’ help but may be unable to reward them with raises or other perks. As a result, they ask more of subordinates but are also more likely to give concessions to those who are loyal to them, which may be perceived as contradictory behaviour.

When a leader is chosen among colleagues, women are often overlooked by the men of the group, and there are usually too few women to support one another. Even where women are the majority of workers, men tend to be favoured for positions of authority because women and men will accept men leaders as representing their general interests but will see women as representing only women’s interests. As a result, men in occupations where most of the workers are women, such as nursing and social work, tend to be over represented in high-level administrative positions and women in occupations where most of the workers are men rarely reach the top ranks.¹

When men choose a woman for a position of power and prestige, she is often considered “on probation”. Women have to bend over backwards to prove not only their competence but their trustworthiness. Women have to prove themselves effective and credible time and time again. The keys to a woman’s effectiveness in public office are to be “trustable”: to give directions clearly and to follow up, to verify every statement for accuracy, to guard her integrity carefully, and to observe the public’s trust one hundred percent. Most important, she must be a team player and build relationship with her colleagues that is based on integrity and respect. Many working women are expected as part of their job to smile, be cordial, sympathetic, agreeable, and a bit sexy. Men workers are supposed to display masculine emotions - coolness under fire, rationality, and objectivity, which are part of the performance of power. The qualities men want in women in the workplace are nuances and cues of behaviour, caretaking – keep women out of the top ranks of business, government, and the professions. Such qualities are gender-marked as “womanly”; they are also subordinating.

A woman leader is expected to be emphatic, considerate of other’s feelings, and attuned to the personal. If she is not; she is likely to be called “abrasive”.

On the other hand, a more conciliatory style may be criticized by men and women colleagues as insufficiently authoritative.

In the past couple of decades, there has been considerable interest, both in research and practice, in women in a leadership role. However, because the societal situation is changing so rapidly, earlier research on women leadership may no longer be relevant. After a recent comprehensive analysis of all aspects of women leaders, the following was concluded.

This so-called “glass ceiling” is a sober reality. It alone should be enough to stimulate further research and interest in women and leadership. As far as the differences between male and female leadership styles, three distinct points of view have been emerged.²

1. No differences: Women who pursue the nontraditional career of manager reflect the feminine stereotype and have needs, value, and leadership style similar to those of men who pursue managerial careers.

2. Stereotypical differences: Female and male managers differ in ways predicted by stereotypes, as a result of early socialization experiences that reinforce masculinity in males and femininity in females.

3. Non stereotypical differences: Female and male managers differ in way opposite to stereotypes, because women managers have to be exceptional to compensate for early socialized experiences that are different from those of men.

There is little reason to believe that either women or men make superior managers, or that women and men are different types of management. Instead, there are likely to be excellent, average, and poor material, performers within each sex. Success in today is available to them. To do this, they need to identify, develop, encourage, and promote the most effective managers, regardless of sex.

Given a concept of natural differences between female and male that mystifies the pervasive and continual social construction of differentiated gender categories, to make all women and men equal would need perfect and scrupulously maintained equivalence between women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities, and rewards to compensate for these supposed immutable sex differences.

Women often use a different leadership style than men and that different style can be a plus in the dynamic organizational world. Those are the most important conclusions we can make based on a number of recent studies focusing on gender and leadership style.

Women tend to adopt a more democratic leadership style. They encourage participation, share power and information, and attempt to enhance followers’ self-worth. They lead through inclusion and rely on their charisma, contacts, and interpersonal skills to influence others. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to use a directive command-and-control style. They rely on the formal authority of their position for their influence base. However, there is an interesting qualification to these findings. The tendency for female leaders to be more democratic than males declines when women are in male-dominated jobs. Apparently, group norms and masculine stereotypes of leaders override personal preferences so that women abandon their feminine styles in such jobs and act more autocratically.

In today’s organizations, flexibility, teamwork, trust, and information sharing are replacing rigid structures, competitive individualism, control, and secrecy. The best managers listen, motivate, and provide support to their people. And many women seem to do those things better than men. As a specific example, the expanded use of cross-functional teams in organizations means that effective managers must become skillful negotiators. The leadership styles women typically use can make them better at negotiating, as they are less likely to focus on wins, losses, and competition, as do men. They tend to treat negotiations in the context of a continuing relationship – trying hard to make the other party a winner in its own and others’ eyes.

Task 3

Translate into Russian.

To be acceptable in a position; “do power”; equally competent; situational context; to grant more autonomy; to ask more of subordinates; to give concessions to smb; to be loyal to smb; to overlook; top ranks; trustworthiness; to give directions clearly; to verify every statement for accuracy; to guard one’s integrity carefully; a team player; to be based on integrity and respect; coolness under fire; to keep smb out of smth; to be emphatic; to be attuned to the personal; a conciliatory style; relevant; to emerge; to be exceptional to compensate for early socialized experiences; pervasive; to abandon one’s feminine style; to try hard to make smb a winner in one’s own and others’ eyes.

Task 4

Translate into English.

Авторитетная должность; стиль руководства; воспринимать кого-то/что-то; обладать недостаточным количеством ресурсов; поощрять кого-то повышениями и другими привилегиями; спрашивать больше с подчиненных; противоречивое поведение; поддерживать друг друга; с испытательным сроком; заслуживающий доверия, надежный; доводить до конца; оправдывать общественное доверие на 100 %; строить взаимоотношения со своими коллегами; быть искренним; особенности и своеобразия поведения; женственный; быть внимательным к чувствам других; жёсткий; общественная ситуация; всестороннее исследование; суровая реальность; усиливать что-то в ком-то; не обращая внимания на пол; предполагаемые неизменные отличия по половому признаку; не принимать во внимание индивидуальные предпочтения; вести переговоры.

Task 5

Answer the questions.

1. What models of women’s behaviour do you know?

2. Does a woman show her weakness as a leader if she asks for more subordinates? Why?

3. Why do even women prefer to have men as their bosses?

4. How do you understand the term “trustworthiness” in respect of woman leaders?

5. What qualities do men expect from women leaders?

6. What three points of view on female leadership styles do you know? How do they differ?

7. What do both male and female leaders need to achieve a success?

8. What will help to equal women’s and men’s rights in leadership?

9. What styles have men and women tended to?

10. What encourages women’s and men’s leadership styles?

11. What develops effective management in modern organizations?

Task 6

Read the text.