Julian Barling: The many paradoxes of women and leadership

After decades of research across many countries, women as a group have been shown to be more likely than men to display transformational and participative leadership, behaviours that are linked to more positive organizational outcomes. Yet women are significantly less likely than men to attain meaningful leadership positions, says Julian Barling, Borden Chair of Leadership at Queen’s School of Business. “We can no longer limit ourselves to looking at the same old groups while hoping for demographically different outcomes. Successful organizations voluntarily choose to create environments that respect, reward, develop, and promote male and female leaders, creating a larger and richer pool of talent from which to draw their future leadership. . . The time for debate about gender and leadership is over. Social and organizational functioning demand that action be taken now.”

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