Women as Leaders

The late, great Susan B. Anthony said "The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race." This being said, when it comes to leadership, does gender matter? Are women better leaders than men?

Belinda Honaker with PICK instructors during a recital

Ten short years ago, a woman named Belinda started a simple organization to help children in her community. Her passion was to help make a difference in the lives of children and to do so in as many as possible while she was alive and able to do so. While this was heavy on her heart, she found that other people in her community didn't feel as strongly about the matter as she did, which caused obstacles along her way. As a woman, she felt weak and powerless when approaching government and county officials for help with funding. She was determined to reach her goals and in order to do so, she did not give up but instead did whatever it took to make her dreams a reality. 

Now, Belinda is a member of the school board in our county and has managed to build and operate a community center, provide assisted living homes, start an official BINGO club,  develop after school programs for the children, along with many others such as  the development of a one of a kind after school music program called PICK, which stands for "Playing Instruments Changes Kids". She is now one of the most important members of our community and I am very proud to call her my mother.

This goes to show that Susan B. Anthony was correct when making her assumption years ago. Today, you will find that there are more women leaders in the world now than ever before. You might ask the question if there is a difference between the way women lead compared to the way men lead. A recent study showed that men and women were equally effective overall in their leadership skills, but women and men were more effective in leadership roles that were seen to be congruent with their gender.