Given that today was the ticker-tape parade to celebrate the U.S. Women’s Soccer team winning the World Cup, this seemed like an appropriate time to share this research I recently came across.
Using their database of 360-degree reviews in which they asked individuals to rate each leaders’ effectiveness overall and to judge how strong they are on specific competencies, Jack Zener, CEO and Joseph Folkman, CEO and President, respectively, of Zenger/Folkman, a leadership development consulting firm, found that women in leadership positions are perceived just as — if not more — competent as their male counterparts.
The data shows that women are perceived by their managers — particularly their male managers — to be slightly more effective than men at every hierarchical level and in virtually every functional area of the organization.
According to the analysis, women outscored men on 17 of the 19 capabilities that differentiate excellent leaders from average or poor ones. Here are the results:
| Capability | Women’s percentile | Men’s percentile |
| Takes initiative | 55.6 | 48.2 |
| Resilience | 54.7 | 49.3 |
| Practices self-development | 54.8 | 49.6 |
| Drives for results | 53.9 | 48.8 |
| Displays high integrity and honesty | 54.0 | 49.1 |
| Develops others | 54.1 | 49.8 |
| Inspires and motivates others | 53.9 | 49.7 |
| Bold leadership | 53.2 | 49.8 |
| Builds relationships | 53.2 | 49.9 |
| Champions change | 53.1 | 49.8 |
| Establishes stretch goals | 52.6 | 49.7 |
| Collaboration and teamwork | 52.6 | 50.2 |
| Connects to the outside world | 51.6 | 50.3 |
| Communicates powerfully and prolifically | 51.8 | 50.7 |
| Solves problems and analyzes issues | 51.5 | 50.4 |
| Leadership speed | 51.5 | 50.5 |
| Innovates | 51.4 | 51 |
| Technical or professional expertise | 50.1 | 51.1 |
| Develops strategic perspective | 50.1 | 51.4 |
The authors found it interesting that when women are asked to assess themselves, they are not as generous in their ratings., perhaps a sign of a lack of confidence. They gathered data to look at confidence and found that there was a large difference between men and women under 25. The authors note that it’s highly probable that those women are far more competent than they think they are, while the male leaders are overconfident and assuming they are more competent than they are. At age 40, the confidence ratings merge. As people age their confidence generally increases; surprisingly, over the age of 60 we see male confidence decline, while female confidence increases.
Here is a chart that reflects such results:
The researchers also looked at the trend in women’s perceptions of their overall leadership effectiveness, with their rating rising as they get older. Again, women at younger ages rate themselves significantly lower than men but their ratings climb — and eventually supersede those of men — as they get older.
Zener and Folkman conclude that women make highly competent leaders, according to those who work most closely with them — and what’s holding them back is not lack of capability but a dearth of opportunity and unconscious bias.
Hopefully, the U.S. Women’s soccer team will serve to inspire women of all ages to excel in any endeavor they pursue – sports, business, arts, sciences – it’s clear they are fully capable of doing so.
Borden's Blather 