Sex and the virus

There are lots of articles flying around about how well women leaders are managing the Covid19 virus crisis than the men are, with Angela Merkel and Jacinda Ardern at the top of the list for praise. The suggestion is that the female Presidents and Prime Ministers are doing a better job keeping death rates down, based on listening to the experts, responding swiftly and giving clear and consistent direction. One theory is that the men’s self-confidence has got in the way of them ensuring they have sought out the right information before making decisions and communicating, only to have to U-turn later (while we are all naturally drawn to people with confidence, there is an argument that self-doubt can be a superpower when used to ensure thoroughness).

Personally, I’m not sure the ‘women are better leaders than men’ argument is helpful. I admit it makes me smile and I get that this is an attempt at a pendulum swing from the perception that great leadership is male, but I think this approach is more likely to drive men to fight equality, when we desperately need them to support it. Let’s focus on the equality of the sexes, not on a battle to prove the superiority of one over the other. We don’t want women to take over the world, we just want an equal share and voice in running it.

I do believe, though, that there are leadership approaches that are more effective than others and which are often less visible and obvious than the stereotypical male, confident and charismatic style. Only at the end of this crisis will we be able to judge the leaders and what will count, more than ever, is the outcome - how many lived and died. It is certainly premature to do so now, when the virus is being artificially contained by lockdown and we have no idea how many it will ultimately affect. In the end we will see which leaders got it right and how they did it, and I’m sure there will be something to be learnt about leadership for everyone, whatever gender.

In the meantime, what I do absolutely love is that we are seeing role model women leaders on our screens. This does and will help change the perception people have (even if they don’t admit it), based on an eternity of inputs our unconscious minds have received and stored, that men are better leaders than women. It’s this simple: when people see women doing a job, they believe she can and this affects the decisions they will make in the future on female candidates.

Women can lead. They can lead countries through crisis. They can lead businesses to success. It’s time to stop running most of the world as if only men can.