Organisational leadership is going through a paradigm shift.

I have spent 30 years in healthcare management leading teams through significant change; improving services for patients, staff and carers.  Over this time I have carefully observed team dynamics, management styles and process and what I have noted is there is a general ‘masculine dynamic’.  What do I mean by that?

Leading from the masculine is not about gender, it is a style of management that stems from a ‘command and control’ model.  Both men and women can adopt this style of leadership and many do because it is the main ‘modus operandi’ taught in management and leadership programmes.  These courses urge us to lead, strategise and organise in a linear or mechanistic fashion based on an old paradigm.

Organisations have wholly embraced the masculine leadership model.  This has led to the creation of unnecessary pressure as it treats people as parts in a machine and places no value on nurturing their workforce.  This does not encourage employees’ to tap into their intuitive selves, their bodies or their calm, which often puts employees into the all-too-familiar worn-out mode.

The feminine model of leadership differs greatly because it is more inclusive, more nurturing, more engaging and collaborative.  The feminine welcomes team input and enjoys nurturing the collective.  It encourages vulnerability in the workplace which leads to an increase in creativity and creates more fulfilling work for the teams greatest asset: its staff.  The problem organisations face is that ‘feminine’ ways of managing and leading are not encouraged or taught in corporate training programs and therefore they are not considered or adopted in organisations.  The masculine model is categorised as a ‘result driver’; It promotes high input for high rewards.  It is a machine, a machine that quite often forgets to check on its operators.  To add to that, many people in senior positions see these feminine qualities in management as a weakness and a bit flaky.

However research now shows that compassion from leaders increases employee loyalty and trust and creates feelings of warmth and positive relationships at work and have a greater say over employee loyalty than the size of their paycheck.  In particular, a study by Jonathan Haidt of New York University shows that the more employees look up to their leaders and are moved by their compassion or kindness (a state he terms elevation), the more loyal they become to him or her.  So if you are more compassionate to your employee, not only will he or she be more loyal to you, but anyone else who has witnessed your behaviour may also experience elevation and feel more devoted to you.

So, how can organisations step into the new paradigm and encourage their leaders to tap into these feminine qualities that I believe are at the core of collaborative leadership?  Leaders should be encouraged to move from hierarchy to community, from competition to nurturing.  It’s moving from the head to the heart, thinking to feeling. Collaborative leadership fosters qualities that can help us think, feel and work differently.  Collaborative leaders see an opportunity to achieve more than an organisational objective or goal.  As the collaborative leader grows personally and professionally, so does the team; therefore the impact of collaborative leadership extends beyond the 9-5, because it gives all team members an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

I would go one step further and say in order to master a collaborative leadership style, the individual has to master their inner leadership first.  Because when we develop this inner skill, our perspective shifts and our actions come from a grounded and integrated place of self awareness.  It gives us a balanced and fresh perspective; It fosters confidence and competence and hope and creates an engaged, healthy workforce and sustainable ‘future-proofed’ workplace for all.

To summarise, the masculine model of leadership gives you an assignment – the feminine or collaborative model asks ‘will you work with me?’  Both lead to the achievement of a goal, but the approaches and outcomes are very different.  Collaborative leadership is a model very much needed in today’s organisations to envision this new paradigm, create positive change and foster wellness at work so that everyone thrives.

Whilst this article is not focused on workplace bullying, my conclusions as a researcher is that workplace bullying simply cannot exist within a collaborative leadership environment. But that is for the next article…

Thank you for reading.