Passive, Aggressive….or Assertive?

Artist unknown

In a recent conversation with some peers, the subject of different leadership styles between men and women were brought up. One woman was perplexed as to why her own demand to finalise the details of a contract in her company had been met with apathy, only to have the necessary result delivered the following day after her male boss stepped in and made it clear that the contract had to be signed. Is it only men who are capable of inspiring action by ‘smashing the heads’ of those they work with?

One male member of our group said, indeed, he had noticed that men ‘shoot from the hip’ to get stuff done and that women’s more conciliatory, relational-driven approach means things drag on and don’t get completed with the same sense of urgency. Although he acknowledged that ‘women’s way’ of doing things (as he saw it) was probably better for the world, he felt that progress was usually only achieved with this zero-sum game of getting things done.

I wanted to scream. These comments exemplified for me everything that is wrong in the world today. If a masculine leadership style has got the world to where it is today, it certainly has a lot to answer for. Our world is broken. Hatred, division, at the point of political, economic, social and environmental catastrophe (and hardly with a sense of urgency regarding climate change, as just one example), this is hardly the time…