What Makes Women Inspirational Leaders?

We all know someone inspirational in our lives. Perhaps it was a manager or mentor who took you under her wing and showed you the ropes in a new job. Maybe a teacher was truly devoted to your learning and pushed you beyond what you thought was possible, making you a better student and a better person. In my case, my mother, a woman widowed in her thirties and left alone to cope with three children, including one with cerebral palsy, was a true inspiration for me. She typified many of the characteristics of inspirational leaders that I describe in my book The Purpose Linked Organization, co-authored with Marc Cugnon.

Among the 11 key characteristics of inspirational leaders that we discuss in the book, I find that three are especially prevalent in the talented women leaders I meet. They are:

1. Authentic rather than Phony: These women are true to themselves and their values as they navigate the tough business environment of today. They do not pretend to be like their male colleagues or adopt the characterizations with which others may try to label them.

2. Reliable rather than Erratic: In the chaos of the shifting economic and business environment, employees can count on these women leaders to be consistent and steady in their vision for the future and how to achieve progress towards it. They do not shift priorities hourly or confuse their staff with constantly changing objectives. They have weathered stormy waters in the past and infuse the organization with confidence about their ability to do so again.

3. Self-aware rather than Unconscious: Inspirational women engage in the tough inner analysis required to understand their own strengths and vulnerabilities. They work hard to maximize the former and manage the latter so that their impact on others and the organization is positive.

So, what makes women more likely to be authentic, reliable and self-aware? First, I think that many of us come hard-wired with a deep desire to connect – with both others and ourselves. We are often willing to explore the deepest recesses of our own psyche to discover the true motivations for our actions and understand the sources of fulfillment in our life and work. As leaders, women who apply these same principles with their employees are much more likely to develop others effectively, so that employees’ roles are aligned with their unique skills, closely-held values and driving passions.

Second, we’ve got muscles that we didn’t know we had. Many women are performing the ultimate juggling act on a daily basis and have become experts at the fine art of balance. We juggle work roles with personal roles – and a multitude of professional demands with being mothers, partners, spouses, daughters, sisters and friends. Early in the process of honing our muscles for juggling and balancing, women become intimately aware of the importance of reliability. Our work colleagues need to be able to count on us to deliver on the job, while our families and friends depend on us to hold true to our promises. We balance being a great employee with being the mother who makes it to the soccer game, is there for the awards ceremony at school, and helps with the science project. At the same time, despite a looming deadline for an important work project, we also show up to comfort a distraught friend who has discovered that her husband is cheating.

I’ve witnessed daily acts by women that inspire me, be they corporate CEOs or employees working on the factory floor. These are women leaders who fight for making a difference in their community as well as making a profit, women co-workers who support each other’s development rather than compete to see how effectively they can make the other seem incompetent, women with children who remember that being a dedicated employee but a lousy mother is a loss for us all… and the colleagues who support them in successfully playing both roles. These women are more than inspirational; they are heroic. I am grateful to them for their acts, both large and small, as they make the world of work and the world of life a better place for us all.

By Alaina Love