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Leadership and women
According to a study published in Psychology Today last year, “people trust leaders who behave in “relational ways”, and especially so when the leaders are women and when there is a predictable path out of the crisis."
First let’s define “relational behavior.” It means thinking of oneself in relation to others and not placing our own needs and desires above others. It means seeking to serve instead of being served. So why are women particularly good at this type of behavior? Rather than thinking solely of their own needs, women tend to try to alleviate other’s feelings of insecurity during a crisis by providing understanding and support.
The COVID-19 pandemic is indeed a crisis. There are countless people working overtime trying to answer questions and calm frayed nerves but perhaps not coincidentally many of the heads of our healthcare system in Canada are women. Their depth of knowledge combined with their calm demeanor and communications skills have helped manage our fears.
We trust and believe these people in charge because they are behaving in “relational ways” – as such, we have faith they can steer us back to normal.
Women’s role during a health crisis
While leadership is one thing, women are disproportionately impacted during a health crisis for a number of reasons:
- They represent 82% of healthcare workers – as such they are up front working with those who are sick or dying.
- Regardless of family structure, women still shoulder most of the responsibility for child care – in situations when kids are off school.
- In addition, it is women who are most often the caregivers for elderly or ill parents / relatives / sometimes even friends.
The take-away?
Women are naturally skilled at calming the fears of those around them when a crisis occurs but they do need support in doing their job.
If you’re a financial advisor and a woman, you may have an advantage in calmly reaching out to clients and reassuring them.
If you’re a male financial advisor, you may want to enlist your female associate in joining you to reach out to clients and build stronger relationships.
If you’re a financial advisor who serves couples, make sure to engage the female partner of the couple – make her part of the conversation.
If you’re a woman engaged in the family financial matters, reassure your partner that together you can stay the course and don’t forget to connect with other family members (as appropriate) to calm them.
If you’re a single woman, you too can reach out to friends and family – to support them and they you.
If you find yourself with time on your hands while observing social distancing, why not do something for yourself and take a course “Four Steps to Succeeding with Female Clients” We are offering it free of charge until April 30, 2020.
When you get to the order page for the payment option simply type in the word LEARN where it says Add Coupon.