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How Female Leadership Traits Can Benefit IT

By Dennis McCafferty on 2010-11-12


It may be time for you to tap into your "female" side in order to succeed in today's business environment, according to the book, Social Nation: How to Harness the Power of Social Media to Attract Customers, Motivate Employees, and Grow Your Business (Wiley/Available now). Author Barry Libert contends that the profound cultural shift that's taking place as social networks grow in popularity will raise the value of executives whose management style includes traits that have been traditionally considered "female." Libert's premise depends, of course, upon your face-value acceptance of broad gender generalizations. Fair warning: Your individual life experiences may vary. Nonetheless, he claims that all of his conclusions are backed by scientific research. “There have been countless studies on gender differences,” Libert says. “And no matter how you interpret them, they conclude that women are collaborative, communicative and community-centered.” So, before you cry foul, stop and consider these eight "female traits" from Social Nation ocialnationbook.com that you can turn into leadership action items in your enterprise, regardless of your actual gender.

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The trait: Women tend to be “people persons” who gravitate toward social-media resources.

The takeaway: Get to know your staff, colleagues, customers personally so they'll be more emotionally invested in mutual success.

The trait: Women often know what they're not.

The takeaway: There's no shame to admit that you don't know everything, and ask for expertise from your staff/outside parties.

The trait: Women are listeners.

The takeaway: Gauge what your customers (internal/external) are saying about what your department provides -- as opposed to adopting a “you'll take what we produce and like it” approach.

The trait: Women seek social-media tools that are easy to use and even “fun.”

The takeaway: The solutions/upgrades your department provides are useless if no one understands how to use them – or wants to.

The trait: Women find happiness in sharing rewards.

The takeaway: Share the wealth of success with staff. It will motivate them to achieve more in the future.

The trait: Women care how they're perceived.

The takeaway: The “My way or the highway” approach with your department will wear thin and lead to retention problems and conflict.

The trait: Women understand that business IS personal.

The takeaway: It's not about being the best CIO. It's about being a CIO that people WANT to see succeed.

The trait: Women seek collaboration/consensus.

The takeaway: Don't implement organization-wide tech initiatives without understanding the needs/desires of all departments.

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