Running Through the Maze: Women Leading with Social Media

Running Through the Maze: Women Leading with Social Media

In the past century women have gone from being barefoot and pregnant, under the cement ceiling and below a glass window to navigating through a complicated maze to become a leader in business and government today.   Given the facts, in order to move women up the corporate ladder; they themselves have to take charge and make change.  It seems that women are reluctant to embrace their innate skills and take the seat at the head of the table.  Thanks to technology, revolutions are taking place all over the world, yet women in business still fail to take top rank in C-suite positions. The many reasons for this paradox are known.  It is up to women to find solutions and take steps to endeavor today.  

American women are increasingly praised for having excellent skills for leadership.  Research has shown that women, more than men possess leadership styles associated with effective performance as leaders. However, it is well known that there are significantly fewer women in leadership roles than men. 

Leaders are individuals who are change agents, social activists, and catalysts in their disciplines. Leaders employ varying leadership styles which can change with corporate cultures. The collaborative, transformational, and context-driven leadership styles are interpersonal leadership styles thought to be feminine.  They are in contradiction to characteristically male leadership styles that are driven by authoritarianism and swift decision making.  

Women are continually challenged with accommodating conflicting demands of their roles as women and leaders. Generally, society expects women be communal, showing kindness, concern for others, warmth, and gentleness.   And that men be agentic, manifesting traits such as confidence, aggressiveness, and discipline.  Agentic displays of confidence and assertion are not considered communal and so women leaders become targets of prejudice. Many people view women as not having what it takes to lead—that is, as not being tough enough or not taking charge. They dislike female leaders who display these very directive and assertive qualities because such women seem masculine.

Today’s successful women are expected to be strong, smart, independent and leading, without giving up the social moirés of past generations.  Often, women leaders are viewed as neglectful mothers, uncaring wives & rigid.  They appear conflicting with societal expectations.  For women who aspire to top leadership, routes exist but are full of twists and turns. Today women are faced with obstacles but can persevere.  Women should know that there are walls all around but they can find their way through and effectively lead.

The intricate maze of issues that surround today’s woman in business can be daunting, leading many young women leaders give up.  It is impossible for today's women to meet all the expectations put upon them by our multicultural society and business structures.   The prejudice of past towards women increase resistance to leadership because the traits associated with leadership are thought to be unbecoming or masculine.  As women struggle to get ahead, the general fact is that men as a group still have the benefit of higher wages and faster promotions.  Women’s ideals still reflect back to generations past and demands of family life are the responsibility of women.  Even though men increasingly share housework and child rearing, the bulk of domestic work still falls on women.  And because many women balance professional and domestic life there is a lack of social capital.  As women struggle to do it all there is less time to network.  Networking with other professionals is the most important way to move ahead in business.  And lastly women are waiting to be asked.  Women wait to be asked to take a leadership role, while men actively pursue them.

Women don’t get to climb up the corporate ladder one rung at a time.  The climb is convoluted like the game Chutes and Ladders. There are ways to shape change and promote women leaders.  

As communication through the internet is evolving rapidly, it is leveling the field for women to rise up and take their place as leaders.  With the real time web and social applications, women can keep in touch with professionals, while still caring for family.  Social networking does not replace live networking, but makes time spent live networking productive.  The use of job websites to break up the good old boy network, objective performance goals which utilize measurement and family friendly benefits help women move to the top.  Online education has also played a role as women can develop professionally faster and easier.  The majority of Social Media and all of its applications are being utilized by women who are naturally communal. Making your way through the leadership maze has become simpler because getting your message out is at your fingertips. Change is here for the game changers, social media for the social activists and new methods of communication for the catalyst.  The internet and social networking are powerful tools for women to lead.