It is stated that feminine leaders are more disposed to combine transactional and transformational leadership than their male colleagues. However, females tend to have less leadership effectiveness. The above statements correspond with the discussion, contained in the body of the article. However, the differences can be also noted. On the one hand, it is further underlined that effective leadership is most commonly associated with masculine traits (e.g., task orientation and assertiveness (Wolfram&Gratton, 2014, p.340). Furthermore, according to the general comment, leadership and associated behaviours are inherent for mean, and men are expected to express assertiveness and readiness to act (Wolfram&Gratton, 2014, p.341).Nevertheless, in both cases the authors underline women’s strengths in relation to leadership (e.g., an ability to bring together transactional and transformational leadership, strong interpersonal skills). These statements are fully in line with the assumption that women are inclined to demonstrate both transactional and transformational leadership. However, despite addressing stereotypes about male leadership, the authors do not expressly state that female leadership is less effective in the “Gender Differences and Leadership Effectiveness” section of the article.
When referring to androgynous female leaders, Wolfram&Gratton (2014) tend to associate them with male leaders and contrast with the female ones. Thus, following the research, the authors state that a stronger link between transformational leadership and reward is typical for both male and androgynous female leaders. Furthermore, discussing workgroup effectiveness, Wolfram&Gratton (2014) also contrast male and female androgynous leaders with female leaders. At the same time, the authors tend to come to the conclusion that masculine gender self-concept can be advantageous not only for androgynous female leaders, but also female leaders. For instance, testing the individual considerations-related hypothesis, Wolfram&Gratton (2014) state that female leaders are capable of benefiting from stereotypically masculine behaviors (e.g., relying on charisma, contingent reward) and vice versa (p.347). Extrapolating the above finding to the androgynous female leaders, it becomes possible to state that they can demonstrate not only typical masculine behaviours, but also rely on the combination of transactional and transformational leadership, as well as interpersonal skills, as female leaders tend to do.
The initial hypothesis, developed by Wolfram&Gratton (2014) in relation to the application of individual considerations by male and female leaders can be formulated as follows. There is a large difference between masculine/androgynous and feminine/undifferentiated female leaders, when they apply individual consideration. After conducting the research, the authors stated that their assumptions regarding the strong effects of gender self-concepts in situations, when behaviours’ with significant gender undertones was not true. Thus, it was found that a masculine gender self-concept can be highly advantageous for female leaders, when they demonstrate behaviours, typical for male leaders (e.g., inspiration, charisma, contingent reward). On the other hand, an undifferentiated gender role self-concept is highly disadvantageous for female leaders. The findings, described above, have significant practical implications. The fact that female managers with defined feminine gender self-concept can potentially benefit from applying stereotypically masculine behaviours can be used for preparing and conducting leadership trainings for female managers (Wolfram&Gratton, 2014, p.350). Moreover, special measures can be designed to tackle female manager, who have undifferentiated gender roles in order to elaborate on their leadership style and determine the behaviours they can benefit from. To conclude, individual considerations appeared to be less important in relation to managerial and leadership behaviours, as they were previously considered.
References
Wolfram, H.J., Gratton, L. (2014). Gender role self-concept, categorical gender, and transactional-transformational leadership: implications for perceived workgroup performance. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies,21(4), pp.338-353
