Thanks to those of you who responded from around the world to my post about Transfemational Leadershipand why a feminine approach to leadership is essential for success in 2011.  Since I wrote this post we here in Australia are in the wake of the Queensland floods, Australia’s most far-reaching natural disaster, with Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, our Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Governor General Quentin Bryce all standing side by side to lead our nation through the impact of the disaster and now the recovery.  While there isn’t much to celebrate about so many people losing so much, it’s been wonderful for Australians to observe that – yes – women are every bit as capable as men at leading in times of crisis.  It’s not that everyone would have doubted this; yet in what is historically a very macho colonial culture seeing three capable women at the helm goes such long way to challenging and changing the stereotypes of leadership.

I thought today I’d share with you a couple of tips and tools sphinxx readers have sent my way that you could add to the transfemational leadership mix:

Firslty from Mike Lehr in the USA:

Jen, I found your post dead on. I especially liked this sentence: “It’s about innovation, resilience and adapting… and I think moving from the traditional, masculine approach of “better, stronger, faster” towards a more feminine approach that encourages collaboration, questioning and dialogue to bring out the very best solutions to business challenges.”

Maybe this might help in your work: a key word I use to describe the feminine approach versus masculine is “dynamic.” I often use it juxtaposed to “strong.” As for “speed” (faster), I use “dexterous.” Women have been found to have better dexterity than men; this shows up in some manufacturing processes where many small parts need to be assembled (i.e. electronic parts).

However, I do consider the feminine approach being about “better” but I use the word “quality” which I juxtapose to “quantity” in the masculine approach. Therefore, feminine is about “better” and masculine about “more.”

And from Ken Wright in Queensland, Australia:

Hi Jen, what a great article!  I totally agree, men may have been mouthing “Better, Stronger, Faster” but few of them REALLY question the HOW.   And further they may talk tough but there are still way too many men leaders failing to have the courageous conversations needed.

The other major reason that women leaders are rising to the top….or should be more rapidly…is that I feel we are moving from the knowledge age to the engagement age. And women are far superior at the EQ / feelings side of business. In my opinion to get a group to change, or an individual to excel, it is all about FEELINGS!

Ken has written a manifesto on “The Age of Engagement” which covers in depth how leaders can bring more feeling to leadership and drive company performance through engaging their people – you can access Ken’s manifesto here.

Have a different take on what it takes to be a transformational leader in 2011?  I’d love to hear from you…

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