Gender differences in leadership style and management skills Sarah burke and karen m. collins

introduction An ongoing debate has appeared in the management literature over the past two decades as to whether female and male managers use different leadership styles. Whether there are differences between women and men in the way of management is arguable since especially preliminary studies show that there is no difference between women and men.

Leadership styles Much of the past research on leadership focused on identifying personality traits associated with effective leadership and understanding the impact of situational factors on the leadership process ( chemers and ayman, 1993) but a new trend of leadership research focus two contrasting management styles: transformatioanal versus transactional leadership.

Transformational leadership Transformational leaders devolep positive relationships with subordinates in order to strengthen employee and organizational performance. Managers who display transformational leadership encourage employees to look beyond their own need and focus instead on the interests of the group overall.

Contingent reward leadership These leaders establish work standards, communicate these standards to their subordianates, and let them know the rewards they will receive if their performance is favorable

Management-by-exception leadership The focus of the manager using the management-by-exception approach is on identifying errors and disciplining workers for poor performance

Leadership style and effectiveness Past research has demonstrated that transsformational managers are espied as the most effective and satisfying managers by their subordinates. Tranformational leadership has a positive effect on an organizations prpductivity and financial results. Contingent reward leadership while still effective, has been found to be less porsitively correlated with performancemanagement – by exceptionleadership, on the other hand, is negatively correlated with organizational performance and it is genarally a less productive management style

Management skills To be effective as a leader, a manager must be adapt at a number of skills. For example, to be successful a manager should be able to develop and coach subordinates, communicate clearly, resolve conflicts, analyze problems, and make sound decisions. A manager must also be able to respond to work challenges in a positive way, use time efficiently, and delegate work(Davis et al., 1996).

Research questions Are the leadership styles reported by female managers different from those reported by male managers Are skills generally associated with managerial success more highly correlated with transformational leadership than with other leadership styles? Are there gender differences in perceived effedtiveness in management skills? Do gender differences exist in developmental opportunities?

variables Management style was assessed using a modified version of the Multi- Factor Leadership Questionnaire MLQ-form 5-45, as developed by Bass and Avolio (1988) and Avolio et al. (1999) The MLQ instrument is used to masure perceived frequency of transformational and transactional leadershiip behavior. Sources: the manager herself/himself; the managers subordinates; the managers superiors; and the mmanagers peers

Research methods A principal components factor analysis using varimax rotation was conducted on the multi factor leadership scale. Gender differences in leadership styles, management skills, and developmental opportunities were assessed using t-testsss. The assocition between leadership styles and management skills was assessed using correlation analysis.

Research results The study’s results indicate the management style emphasized most by accountants is transformational leadership, followed closely by contingent reward. The findings also indicate that female accountants are more likely than male acccountants to report higher scores on the use of the most effective leadership styles: transformational and contingent reward leadership. İn addition, female accountants are less likely than their male colleagues to report uingg the least effective leadership style: management-by-exxception. The gender difference results should encourage work organizations to be gender neutral in hiring and promoting accountants