Leadership and Followership

Leadership and Followership
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Leadership and Followership
While leadership refers to the act of leading, followership regards the act of following. There are various styles of leadership including transformational, autocratic, democratic and situational leadership styles. Likewise, there are different followership styles including critics, loyalists, opportunists, and traitors. Notably, when it comes to gender, there are differences regarding leadership and followership styles. The first differences between the two are that men’s leadership and followership styles are characterized as impersonal, opportunistic, ambitious, assertive, confident, decisive, analytical, rational, logical, objective, independent and aggressive (Shanmugam, Amaratunga, & Haigh, 2017). On the other hand, women’s leadership and followership styles are considered as submissive, empathetic, gentle, talkative, receptive to ideas, tactful, warm, intuitive, corporative, expressive, sensitive and emotional. In this regard, females are better followers than males as men tend to want to lead and not to be a follower. More importantly, regarding leadership, men are more oriented to a transactional leadership style that is task-oriented and impersonal. Women, on the other hand, prefer a transformational leadership approach that is relationship oriented and more nurturing.

Gender and leadership might factor into Saudi Vision 2030 in that it seeks to increase the number of women in leadership positions.

Notably, the vision seeks to increase the women’s participation in the workforce and leadership. Leaders lead individuals, therefore, the question of whether an employee is a male or a female is out of the equation. In this regard, it is apparent that there are no differences in managing or leading employees of different genders. First, it is important to note that all employees regardless of whether male or female appreciate positive feedback from their leaders. No single proven research demonstrates that male or female workers value positive feedback more than their counterparts. Additionally, leaders or managers should understand that regardless of gender, all employees value flexibility and need more training and development. In short, neither female nor male workers are one size fits for all.

Reference
Shanmugam, M., Amaratunga, G., & Haigh, P. (2017). Leadership Styles: Gender Similarities, Differences and Perceptions. Journal of Leadership And Management, 1-15.