As a women-owned company and passionate supporters of equity in leadership roles, we at PRADCO pride ourselves on taking a data-driven approach to measuring the leadership behaviors emphasized in the workplace. Over the years, thousands of leaders across various industries have taken PRADCO’s Leadership Assessments for candidate selection and/or employee development purposes. Specifically, the Quick View™ Leadership Assessment measures the behaviors necessary for success in the workplace. When analyzing the top behaviors displayed by female leaders, as a collective, we see some trends emerge in 2020:
- The top three behaviors emphasized by women in leadership roles are pivotal for guiding organizations through uncertainty—Responsiveness, Flexibility, and Empathy. These qualities can lead teams through dynamic situations in an employee-focused manner that prioritizes engagement and retention.
- Interactions with People—female leaders tend to display a strong emphasis on behaviors related to communication and interactions with others. While some behaviors have remained strong over the years, Interpersonal Awareness has quickly climbed the chart, indicating that women understand the value of reading and interpreting others’ cues to determine how to best navigate complex scenarios and coach a variety of people.
- Women score high in Judgment, which is defined as making sound business decisions. Leaders strong in this behavior evaluate the facts and draw logical conclusion while considering the impact decisions have on people, teams, and overall organizations.
In 2020, women are still underrepresented in executive-level leadership teams. If many women leaders are well equipped to effectively lead organizations through the significant challenges and uncertainty we face today, why aren’t more women represented in leadership roles and empowered to do it?
What can organizations do to champion emerging female leaders?
- Recognize when equity is not present in your organization’s leadership structure and retool how you evaluate leadership candidates to promote a more equitable environment. Consider adding a third-party assessment into the candidate selection process.
- Create a Pipeline—communicate directly to your high potential women that they are valuable to the long-term plans of the organization through their direct supervisor, a professional mentor, or a more formalized emerging leader structure.
- Walk the walk–invest in their development!
How PRADCO Can Help
Here at PRADCO, we are excited to partner with public and private organizations to support, develop, and champion women in leadership! Our next Striving for Excellence—Women in Leadership program will be a virtual 6-month, cohort style program designed to assess and develop participants based on emerging research. We are currently enrolling participants, so contact us soon to register your future executive leaders to support a strong pipeline of talent prepared to help your organization thrive in the future!
