Women are good managers in businesses
Not only female founders, but female executives also considered better than male counterparts in ensuring success to their respective startups
Sarah Fink, Head of Research at the Centre of Entrepreneurs, once said, “Women entrepreneurs are more likely to work towards controlled, profitable growth with relatively little interest in merely positioning themselves for lucrative exit. Also, they often prefer to re-invest business profits over equity investment to scale sustainably.” These are not just verbal claims even the world’s top research firms authenticate that women business leaders are ahead of their male counterparts on various fronts. And, this is not something new, The findings of a survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review in 2012, shows that in all key positions women are more effective leaders than men in the corporates.
Womenable, a social organization in the US also found that women are outperforming men in business. The results of the survey that Womenable conducted during 1997-2014 are astounding. According to the survey, women-led organizations in the US registered 72.3 per cent growth while the growth of male-owned firms was only 45.1 per cent during the same period. On the other hand, as per the statistics of First Round, businesses run by with at least one female founder brought 63 per cent more return on investment than companies solely owned by male founders.
Also, female business leaders are ahead of their male counterparts in employment generation. As per the study of Census Bureau on employment generation during 2007-2015, employment generation rate in women-led organisations was 18.39 per cent during that 8-year long period whereas organizations under the leadership of male entrepreneurs could achieve only 0.37 per cent growth. Consequently, the former group created 1.24 million more jobs than the latter one.
Not only female founders, but female executives also considered better than male counterparts in ensuring success to their respective startups. The study carried by Dow Jones VentureSource reveals that startups with more female executives had a better success rate and vice versa.
Attributes that make women better leaders
The above studies clearly reveal that on various leadership positions women perform better in the business world because of some personality traits that give an edge over men. Attributes primarily responsible for better performance are as follows.
Pretty Ambitious
Big dreams, when pursued by big efforts, bring big results. Being ambitious by nature, women strive and work hard to achieve their personal and professional goals. When a woman takes charge as a leader in corporate boardrooms, she aspires to overcome all limitations with her ambitious mindset and positive attitude. A survey by Centre of Entrepreneurship reveals that more than 65 per cent of women at top managerial positions are interested in establishing their own enterprises in the next three years, while less than 33 per cent males at similar positions are interested in entrepreneurship. And 47 per cent established female entrepreneurs are interested to venture into another business, while only 18 per cent men in similar capacity are willing to start one more business in addition to the existing one. The more or less same scenario was observed regarding the expansion of current businesses. The percentage of women entrepreneurs who are keen to expand the business was 32 whereas only 27 per cent of males were keen to expand.
High EQ
People who give respect to others’ emotions and controls their own emotions usually remain strong to their convictions and commitments. Studies suggest that women are emotionally more controlled and they apply their minds over hearts. In comparison, a man can be easily deceived through false emotions. They are short-tempered, aggressive, and overly reactive to things that are least significant in the business world. In contrast, women can easily notice the things manipulated by others, they are better in knowing people’s intentions as well as attention. All these intrinsic qualities of women leaders help them a lot while negotiating with stakeholders, vendors, and competitors.
Good at risk calculation
Various research done in the past about the investment behaviour of men and women helps to conclude that there is a remarkable distinction between the two. Usually, men seek faster growth in their returns and that’s too in a shorter duration whereas women look for long-term steady growth. Men prefer to invest their profits in stocks and commodities, but women want to multiply profits by reinvesting them in their businesses. This behaviour reflects that women have better skills to calculate present risks and future returns and they work on strategies which ensure long-run sustainable growth. This attribute throws light on another leadership aspect, that is, women are more rational in predicting future returns and men are overconfident while making investment decisions.
Source: Hindustan Times, 13/08/2019
