UNIT D - Blog 30

Conventional views about leadership styles disadvantage women and advantage men because throughout history men have been president and men have held high roles in society and have been great leaders for our country. When people look back in history all they see are men holding leadership position and this poses a problem for women because when they want to run for a leadership role they might be looked at as a joke because nobody is used to having a woman hold a powerful role. All the stereotypes can bring women down and lower their self esteem, it also might prevent women from applying for leadership roles because they might feel they don't even have a chance when compared to a man. It was awesome that a woman was up against a man for this recent president election and I think it told all the women out there that if they try hard enough they can make it and they need to be brave and let all those stereotypes and negativity leave their minds so they can do what they want and be successful leaders for our country.

Gender expectations frame leadership behavior for men and women because if society already expects men and women to act a certain way then this might pressure both genders to take on the responsibility of acting the way society wants them to. Society is used to a man running the show, so to speak, and this might give a man a reason to feel like he's more powerful than a woman and should dominate the workplace. For example, most of the people on the Supreme Court are men and these men might have the idea that they are better than women and that being on the Supreme Court is a man's job and can only be done best when performed by a man. Society forms these stereotypes of men and women and it makes us sort of mold into that stereotypes because once a man decides he wants to be a ballerina he might decide against this even though it's his dream because society will look down upon him since it's more acceptable when a woman is a ballerina as opposed to a man. Women might also be a little nervous to apply for jobs that are male dominated because they feel they will be looked down upon or treated differently because of their gender.

Some positive outcomes of leadership qualities in women is they are finally seen as worthy enough to be in leadership roles. For so long women weren't allowed to vote or even run for jobs such as lawyers or judges and I think it's awesome that women are finally putting themselves out there and going against men so they can be seen as worthy opponents. I think some negative outcomes for women is that they tend to be more assertive and might come off as pushy or rude and I think women are just more confident and they feel they need to act this way so they aren't pushed around and stepped on by others. As for men I think positive outcomes of their leadership qualities are they have made it far in most industries and will always have the chance to take on leadership roles and mentor other people for the same position. I think some negative outcomes are that they can come off as jerks, especially when they are talking about women. All the men that judged Sonia for being on the Supreme Court constantly attacked her based on her background of growing up in the Bronx and also said that she was a bad lawyers and didn't know much about the industry. I think this just shows they are scared of a little competition from a woman.

The leadership style I prefer is someone who is assertive and to the point. I think it's nice to have someone who can incorporate emotion into their roles as well because we need to be able to realise they are people too and can related to us and our emotions. I like when people are assertive because they are showing they aren't push overs and are capable of getting the job done without being stepped all over. I wouldn't want a leader who is shy, laid back and timid because to me this shows signs of weakness and I don't want someone weak handling anything important that needs to get done.