Gender differences in leadership, kickball, and an event for you to join on 3/13!
Issue #17 - Winter (or Spring??) 2024
Hey, you. Howâs your week been?
Spring is threatening to make its appearance in Alabama - and with daylight savings ending this weekend, itâs never been more clear to me how badly I need a tan.
â women + men⊠you know, weâre different.
If you didnât know, Iâm mere months away from having my Masters in Industrial & Organizational Psychology, from the greatest collegiate institution of all time: Auburn University (war damn).
I donât write much about the things Iâve learned in the program, because well⊠itâs often VERY hard to make the material interesting.
But one thing Iâve learned about lately that is interesting is this: gender differences in leadership styles.
Disclaimer: this doesnât mean that all men act one way, and all women act another. These are generalizations.
Typically speaking, men in leadership roles present as transactional leaders, and women are more often transformational leaders.
transactional leaders are often goal-oriented and manage in a direct, no nonsense way. they have their eyes on the prize, and set clear expectations for their team on how to get there. they are less interested in people-development, unless it directly pertains to the goal theyâre looking to reach.
transformational leaders are often relationship-oriented, and manage in a people-centric, approachable way. they are primarily focused on developing their direct-reports, with metrics and performance goals as secondarily important. they believe that by focusing on their developing their reports, the numbers and goals will speak for themselves.
There is no right way to be.
You can clearly imagine a team of only transactional leaders, or only transformational leaders, not doing so great. We canât have leaders only focused on goals, and we canât have leaders only focused on people development. When we only have one type, we get into issues of group think - where people with similar backgrounds & experiences lack creativity and innovation, well, because they all have similar backgrounds and experiences.
The teams that do the best are the ones where thereâs a mix of both. Actually, thatâs the goal of DE&I, isnât it? We often think of DE&I as pushing the voices and involvement of underrepresented groups, and thatâs true. But have you ever considered what the end-goal of that actually is?
It should be to have marginalized populations at the table, but remember, weâre talking companies here. Everything is about the bottom-line. Sure, weâd love for companies to invest in DE&I because itâs the right thing to do. And for some, maybe thatâs enough. But what really gets companies in the game is the promise that investing in diversity is really an investment in creativity, innovation, and ultimately: increasing profits. (ok I digress.)
One of the ways to get better as a leader is to actually understand the kind of leader you are. Ask yourself these questions:
Do I wake up every day thinking about what I need to accomplish, or what resources I need?
Is my to-do list filled with conversations, or actionable work blocks?
Am I investing my time in project management or people development? Think: what kind of books, courses, podcasts, LinkedIn profiles do you consume?
Are you more concerned with your succession plan or your year-end goals?
Do your people regularly come to you with personal + professional conversations?
Observe yourself this week and see which way your tendencies lean. Next week, Iâll dive into communication styles, actionable tips, and common pitfalls to avoid to develop yourself as a leader, whichever kind you are.
â the village doesnât just appear, yâall.
Letâs talk about adult womenâs kickball, shall we?
When my daughter was born in November 2021, we lived in Chattanooga, TN. I worked constantly, and really, my only friends that I saw regularly were the ones I worked with. Even then, when 98% of your conversations revolve around leaking pipes, weekend coverage & unplugging coarse screens, it can be hard to take things to a personal level.
I quit my job and stayed home with Delilah for the first six months. Not only was I going through an enormous identity crisis from managing 120 people to managing just 1 tiny human, but I was lonely. I donât know if youâve ever been around a newborn, but theyâre not exactly conversationalists.
p.s. if you find yourself lonely, itâs worth asking yourself - how many adult conversations are you having every day, outside of work?
So when we decided to move back home to Birmingham 6 months later, I was determined to not feel that level of loneliness again. I had great friends here, but none of them were yet moms. I knew I needed support that could only come from other women who had experience with childbirth, apple sauce pouches, diapers, toddler tantrums, etc.
So I joined a kickball team. I joined a wiffle ball team, too. I reached out to random moms that looked cool on my community facebook group. I joined a coffee shop work-from-home network. I started taking D to silly little music classes, for the sole purpose of meeting moms. I *begged* my friends to start making babies (um, it worked - see last weekâs newsletter).
Before I knew it, my husband was begging me to stop making so many friends đ me! the introvert! Who am I?!
But hereâs my point: building your village takes effort. Hell, you donât even need a whole village. You just need a couple really good people, who have similar experiences to your own, who are willing to say, âYup, me too. It sucks, doesnât it?â
And a bonus to not feeling lonely is this - I get to laugh and joke with my kickball team every Sunday while fueling my competitive spirit. I love it. Shout out to Natalie for Sundayâs back massage, and for yelling âSUBSCRIBE TO HER NEWSLETTERâ every time I get up to kick. Yâall are the real MVPs.
â Links
My good friend Megan Wollerton (Life Force Wellness) is hosting a webinar with me NEXT WEDNESDAY, 3/13 at 1PM EST on success strategies for male-dominated industries. She has experience in Oil + Gas, and Iâm from pulp & paper. Safe to say, weâve got some great strategies for you! RSVP here!
I donât even pretend to care much about basketball, but I love to see a woman become the GOAT. Cheers to Caitlin Clark đ
Wait⊠another basketball related link? Who is she?! Auburnâs basketball coach Bruce Pearl was on CBS Sunday Morning for his time and effort into kids with childhood cancer. Thanks to my brother for sharing. Iâm not crying, you are.
If you liked this newsletter, share with your friends & subscribe below.
See you next week, friend.
& as always,
Iâm rooting for you.
xx Hannah