ASSESSMENT 1, Gender and Leadership

Women’s status has improved remarkably in the 21^st century in many countries, but women continue to lack access to power and position in the society compared to men. Although women have made many gains over the years, their status in the organizations is not up to the expectations. Leadership is not based on the gender. People become leaders iteratively.  They bear increasingly demanding roles, learn from mentors, and try out with new behaviors. Then, if their presentation is confirmed, they go over the process.

Women as leaders                                 

Although more women are assume leadership roles today than before, the idea of a woman as a leader is still unfamiliar to many individuals, male and female alike. Changes in opinion are difficult to achieve because the traditional norms of leadership are definitely deep-rooted. In our society, as in most others, leaders have usually been males. In the past, leadership opportunities for women tended to be limited to all female organizations such as sororities, convents, and female institutions of education-but even there the presidents of women’s colleges were almost always men (Bass, 1981)

There are many female leaders that are emerging in the business sector. The female leaders like Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Face book) and Marissa Mayer (CEO, Yahoo) are one of the best leaders in the world. They are also considered to be role models for future leaders. Leaders like these can inspire the future leaders, they provide guidance to them. Fewer female leaders means fewer role models and can suggest to young would-be leaders that being a woman is a liability-thus discouraging them from viewing senior women as credible sources of advice and support.

-          Benefits that we get from a women leader.

 1.           Women are Opportunity Experts

Women witness opportunity in everything and everyone – their neighbors, friends, family, business associates, strategic partners, etc. Women have the ability to see opportunity and give their ideas life and inspire others to do the same. Women, when given the opportunity to be themselves, are natural leaders. Women are more strategic, focused and keep their eye on the prize, they are not distracted easily and don’t get their egos in their way.

2.      Women control majority of woman spending.

Not only do women earn more than India and China combined, but also women globally control at least 64% of the consumer spending (Silverstein & Sayre, 2009b). Having women on boards will give corporations the competitive advantage to create products and services that will better meet their customers’ needs. In some countries, women make over 70% of household spending decisions but have many unmet needs from financial education and advice to providing products they require at key inflection points in their lives: caused by divorce, death of a spouse, marriage, first home purchase, birth of a first child, college commencement, first job etc (Accenture, 2006).

3.           Women seek to be relationship specialists.

Women are specialists at humanizing relationships that are purposeful, genuine and meaningful. They focus on growing healthy, long-lasting relationships. Women don’t quit. They succeed at creating and sustaining energy for both themselves and others. Women are masters at facilitating connection points between people, resources and relationships.  This is why women are such effective and efficient leaders.  They don’t waste time and can quickly identify areas to consolidate, organize and strengthen business outcomes. 

4.      Women improve corporate performance

Women are shown to have positive effects that improve corporate performance. Catalyst (2007) compared Fortune 500 companies on the representation of women on their boards and their corporate performance. They found that when comparing the worst and best quartile of female representation this had significant effects on the corporate performance. Return on Equity increased by 53%, Profit Margin by 42%, and Return on Invested Capital by 66%. They also found that a minimum of three women on the board gave the best results. McKinsey (2007) confirms this relationship. They find that companies with the highest gender diversity teams, as compared to the industry average, see a much higher Return on Equity (10%), a higher operating result (48%), and a stronger stock price growth (70%). In addition, having at least one woman on the board decreases bankruptcy by a full 20% (Wilson & Atlantar, 2009). Interestingly, companies with more women on their boards see better corporate governance and ethical behavior (Franke, 1997).

-          Challenges that women leaders face:

1.      Access to Credit

Women entrepreneurs also find great difficulties in accessing credit. This is partially due to lack of confidence, as well as a gender bias towards women. Fortunately, the West Pac Bank in Australia is unique; it is one of the very few banks that have a unit completely dedicated to women. They offer education, information and networking opportunities. Also, in Uganda, the Development Finance Company of Uganda Bank Limited (DCFU) has a unit dedicated to women entrepreneurs, where they facilitate access to credit.

2.       Double burden

Women are improving their professional opportunities, yet are still responsible for the majority of the chores and care giving duties, also known as the double burden syndrome. This syndrome is particularly experienced in the African and Asian regions, which reflects the responsibility for both work and household. European women are responsible for twice as many household tasks than the men McKinsey (2007).

3.      Confidence:

A major problem relates to women’s confidence, in both the beliefs in their own abilities, as well as in the capability of communicating confidence. As an example, research amongst MBA women shows that while the majority of women consider themselves equally capable as their co-workers, the majority of men consider themselves more capable than their co-workers (Eagly, 2003). In an environment where the behaviors expected are still male dominated, female-specific communication can be interpreted negatively.

4.      Gender bias and stereotypes.

Unfortunately, women do experience a strong gender bias when being evaluated for promotions on both their level of performance as well as their potential impact. Research within professional group’s show that women have to significantly work harder to be perceived as equally competent as men (Lyness & Heilman, 2006).

Thus, the biggest challenges woman face in their development as leaders pertains to work-life balance, lack of role models, lack of opportunities for career advancement and a lack of support from upper management. Many organizations have talented woman in their leadership pipelines, but to successfully advance them into leadership roles, they need a strategy. In addition to plans and programs to develop women, this strategy should outline how to change the organization’s corporate culture to recognize the business value natural to diverse leadership.

References: 

. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?rep=rep1&type=pdf&doi=10.1.1.204.5982. [Accessed 01 January 2014].

 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.cpahq.org/cpahq/cpadocs/Genderdiffe.pdf. [Accessed 01 January 2014].

4 Skills that Give Women a Sustainable Advantage Over Men - Forbes. 2014.4 Skills that Give Women a Sustainable Advantage Over Men - Forbes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2011/08/22/4-skills-that-give-women-a-sustainable-advantage-over-men/. [Accessed 01 January 2014].

Leadership Challenges for Women at Work - Chief Learning Officer, Solutions for Enterprise Productivity. 2014. Leadership Challenges for Women at Work - Chief Learning Officer, Solutions for Enterprise Productivity. [ONLINE] Available at: http://clomedia.com/articles/view/leadership-challenges-for-women-at-work/4. [Accessed 01 January 2014].

Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers - Harvard Business Review. 2014.Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers - Harvard Business Review. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hbr.org/2013/09/women-rising-the-unseen-barriers/. [Accessed 01 January 2014].

Leadership

Leadership is a process of unifying a group of individuals to willingly achieve a common goal. "Leadership is communicating people's worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves."- Stephen R. Covey.

       There are different types of leaders like political leaders and business leaders, who follow different types of leadership styles. But mainly there are 3 types of leadership styles

 1.      Autocratic leadership

 2.      Democratic leadership and

 3.      Laissez leadership styles.

1 Autocratic leadership style:

Autocratic leaders are those who want their work done on time with very strict rules and regulations to be followed by the followers. In this type of leadership style the subordinates or followers have no freedom to make decision and doesn't involve in any creative activity. All the decisions and actions are taken by the leader himself.

Autocratic leaders make quick decisions without consulting anyone, which may help to get the job done quickly. Whereas some people might dislike those types of characteristics as those decisions result in lack of creativity.

2. Democratic leadership style:                           

Democratic leaders are those leaders who give complete freedom to their subordinates to accomplish the
 work. They let their subordinates choose their own type of work. In this style of leadership group members take more part in decision making process where the final decision is made by the leader.

Researchers have found that this type of freedom to subordinates leads to higher creativity and productivity in an organization. Though it may be most effective style of leadership quick decisions are hard to make in this type which directly affects the project to cross the deadline.

3 Laissez faire leadership style:       

This type of leadership includes both characteristics of autocratic and democratic style of leadership. It is also known as delegate style of leadership. Leaders following this type of leadership style delegates their power to the group members to make decisions. This type of leadership style actually leads to the lowest productivity among the group members. The leader expects the group members to solve the problems on their own, which may lead to project failure.

 Leadership in ME

I don't have any specific leadership style. Depending on a situation I solve the problem. Sometimes my decisions may be fully autocratic and sometimes it may be democratic. Well I remain a bit confused on what leadership style I'm following. But a small activity in our class solved my confusion. Recently Mr. Yuvraj sir gave us a task to solve several questionnaires regarding leadership styles. Well the ultimate goal of that activity was to find the leadership styles in ourselves. In one of the leadership based questionnaire I attempted 19 leadership based questions which resulted pretty well. The most scoring that I got was from 9-12 which is regarded as high marks. There were four sections based on leadership, and my score were as follows:

1. Idealized influence                                  12

2. Inspirational motivation                           9

3. Intellectual stimulation                             9

4. Individualized consideration                   9

5. Contingent reward                                   7

5 Laissez faire leadership                          9 

The activity showed that I was more focused towards idealized influence. Which means I was trusted by my subordinates, maintain their faith and respect, show dedication to them, appeal to their hopes and dreams, and act as their role model. It also showed that I wasn't good enough to handling contingent rewards, which means I'm not very good at telling others what to do in order to be rewarded. Overall the results show that I'm a good leader.

References :

Lewin, K., Liippit, R. and White, R.K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 271-301.

Leadership Theories

There are different types of leadership but the following are the eight major leadership styles:

1. Great Man Theory:

This theory accepts that the limit for initiative is intrinsic – that incredible pioneers are conceived, not made. These speculations regularly depict extraordinary pioneers as chivalrous, mythic and bound to ascent to initiative when required. The expression "Incredible Man" was utilized in light of the fact that, at the time, initiative was considered basically a male quality, particularly as far as military leadership.

2. Trait Theory:

This theory is similar in a few approaches to Great Man theory, attribute hypotheses expect that individuals inherit certain qualities and characteristics that greatly improve the situation suited to administration. Characteristic hypotheses frequently recognize specific psyche or behavioral aspects imparted by pioneers. For instance, qualities like self-assurance and bravery are all characteristics that could possibly be joined to incredible pioneers

3. Contingency Theory:

 Contingency theory of initiative concentrate on specific variables identified with the environment that may figure out which specific style of authority is best suited for the circumstances. Consistent with this hypothesis, no administration style is best in all circumstances. Triumph relies on various variables, including the administration style, characteristics of the devotees and parts of the circumstances.

4. Situational Theory:

This theory recommends that pioneers pick the best strategy based upon situational variables. Distinctive styles of initiative may be more proper for specific sorts of choice making. Case in point, in a circumstance where the pioneer is the most educated and encountered part of an aggregation, a tyrant style could be generally suitable. In different occurrences where bunch parts are talented specialists, a law based style might be more viable.

5. Behavioral Theory:

Behavioral theory of initiative is based upon the conviction that extraordinary pioneers are made, not conceived. Think as of it the other side of the Great Man theory. Established in behaviorism, this leadership theory keeps tabs on the movements of pioneers not on mental qualities or interior states. Consistent with this hypothesis, individuals can figure out how to end up pioneers through showing and perception.

6. Participative theory:

Participative leadership theory infers that the perfect authority style is one that considers the data of others. These pioneers empower support and commitments from gathering parts and help bunch parts feel more pertinent and focused on the choice making methodology. In participative theory, nonetheless, the pioneer holds the right to permit the info of others.

7. Management Theories:

Management theory, otherwise called transactional theory, keep tabs on the part of supervision, association and gathering execution. These theories build authority in light of an arrangement of prizes and disciplines. Managerial theories are regularly utilized within business; when representatives are great, they are remunerated; when they fizzle, they are reproved or rebuffed. 

8. Relationship Theory:

Relationship theories, otherwise called transformational theories, center upon the associations structured between pioneers and adherents. Transformational leaders rouse and motivate individuals by helping aggregation parts see the importance and higher great of the assignment. These leaders are kept tabs on the execution of aggregation parts; additionally need every individual to satisfy his or her potential. Leaders with this style regularly have high moral and ethical measures.

References:

Leadership Theories. 2014. Leadership Theories. [ONLINE] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/od/leadership/p/leadtheories.htm. [Accessed 05 March 2014].

Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship and Leadership

       Entrepreneurs are those who run a small business by themselves. They are the one who creates innovative ideas, organizes, manages and assumes the risk and brings positive changes in an organization. Entrepreneurs create their own rules and make their own decisions that benefit the company. 

 Entrepreneurship is those qualities that have the potential and ability to develop and revolve any ideas or decisions into action, along with good efforts to organize and manage business venture with any of its risk in order to make profit. Entrepreneurship rises when a new business establishes.  

       Leadership is the characteristics of a person who leads a group of people, establishes a goal and shares it with others and works continuously to reach that common goal. The ability to influence a group towards the achievement of goal is known as leadership and those who leads a group with leadership characteristics is known as a leader. Leaders adapt to new environments or situations where they make creative, fast and good decisions even in tough situations. Thus, leadership is a process of unifying a group of individuals who are willing to achieve a general goal.

Nepal's first billionaire, Mr. Binod Chaudhary

In a poor country like Nepal with few natural resources, poor infrastructure, and constitutional instability, someone came up and managed to make money from this little country and now has been listed in the Forbes 2013 listing of top billionaires around the world. He is none other than the bold and courageous Mr. Binod Chaudhary who saw things differently in small country like Nepal.

Mr. Binod Chaudhary's journey has been a long, rough and tough journey. His grandfather who was from Rajasthan visited Kathmandu for trekking in the late 90's managed to settle down and open a small textile store. Later, Chaudhary's father Lunkaran Das converted that into Arun Emporium which was Nepal's first department store. Chaudhary's at the age of 18 took the courage to join his father's business. His father had started a business in a small way, when he joined the business it was still a modest size with only 400 employees.


As there is a saying "try try until you die". Chaudhary with his hard work, courage, and his luck today is known as the 1^st billionaire of Nepal with various companies employing more than 7700 employees.In a recent interview he was asked, what it feels to be a billionaire. "Your sense of responsibility and moral obligation multiplies manifold, and particularly more if you hail from a poor nation. You become much more visible – people look up and up to you." says Mr. Binod Chaudhary.His aim is to create pool of businesses which will touch social issues and convert the youth into entrepreneurs. His business expansion outside Nepal and strategic partnership in various international companies has made him what he is today.
"Our dream is to establish a global empire of Wai Wai . I have confidence that we can achieve it." Chaudhary stated in his recent book Atmakatha.

Binod Chaudhary is the founder of famous noodle brand Wai Wai which has spread over 35 countries in the world. Wai Wai is the largest selling noodle brand in Nepal and second largest in India with 16% market share.Hope we can see new entrepreneurs with such courage, hard work and brilliance in our near future. I thank Mr. Binod Chaudhary for changing the perception of Nepal in the world's eye.


References:

ekantipur.com. 2013. ekantipur. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ekantipur.com/2013/02/03/business/a-candid-tale-of-an-ambitious-entrepreneur/366532.html. [Accessed 12 October 13]

Forbes.com. 2013. binod chaudhary is Nepal's first billionaire. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2013/03/05/binod-chaudhary-is-nepals-first-billionaire/. [Accessed 12 October 13].

the daily star.net. 2013. hard work, courage and luck. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/hard-work-courage-and-luck/. [Accessed 12 October 13].