Do Women Make Better Leaders Than Men? America no longer needs men leaders, says former US President Barack Obama
By Komal Nathani •
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For millions of coloured people across the world, he became the icon as he set foot into the White House in 2009. And today, Barack Obama, who never misses out on an opportunity to acknowledge his wife Michelle's contribution to the American progress, has come forth to say women are better fit for the seats of power and others leadership roles than men.
Former US President Barack Obama's message was received with a resounding cheer from around the globe.
He said, "Men seem to be having some problems these days," in an event titled "Les Napoleons' in Paris last weekend. It was organized by a network of communications professionals.
To a question about leadership qualities, Obama said, "Not to generalize, but women seem to have a better capacity than men do, partly because of their socialization."
More Focus on Putting Women in Power
He stressed on focused initiatives to put more women in positions of power.
The statement was apparently made against the backdrop of several sexual allegations on men from Hollywood and political spheres across the world.
The two-term US President is optimistic about getting good leaders in the future and "that starts with the inclusion of more women leaders."
Gap in the Number of Men and Women in Workplaces
Extensive research has proved that people from diverse backgrounds can do better together. But, the number of women in the workplaces is much less than that of men.
To find out why there are fewer women in leadership roles, Entrepreneur India talked to some Indian women entrepreneurs who are successfully handling their businesses.
What They Said
33-year old Dipti Daryanani Ahuja, Co-founder of an online khadi store Love the World Today, said, "Women inherently are nurturers, more empathetic and more companionate. As a leader these qualities are essential. Also I believe women are great at multi-tasking."
She added that in her personal experience, she has always founded women more dependable, and high on integrity and focus.
Co-founder of the tech-based startup GlobalLinker Summi Gambhir said women face a lot of challenges.
She went on to explain that often women take breaks or even end careers because of personal issues like marriage/child birth and this often creates a "parity gap', where their male counterparts race ahead.
"It is said that housewives should earn the highest "job scores' for the responsibilities they handle. If that's the case, and women's "break years' earned them parity, this gap could be closed," elaborated Gambhir.
Ivanka Trump on Improvement of Women Leaders' Mindset
Recently, at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Hyderabad India, the advisor to the US President, Ivanka Trump, also spoke on the way forward to improve the mindset of women leaders. In the first plenary session with other leaders, Ivanka said, "We need a policy to support modern working homes of men and women, tax reforms and affordable child care." Ivanka emphasized that there should be more women in the male-dominated sectors for the growth.
While two of the global leaders seem to be having similar opinions on the future of leadership, the message is loud and clear — women could definitely change the game, if and when they are given the chance.
