The author proposes moving away from discourses that, due to their well-intentioned, continue to place women in roles of passivity, care, and dependency.
By Lucila Checchi, consultant at Ingouville & Nelson
16/05/2023 – 08,26hs
Because the women no longer occupy leadership positions in the world of sales? Why do we find so many difficulties accessing management positions?
Most of the approaches that address the participation of women in the world of sales speak of attributes of the female gender that, due to the current context and the evolution of the area towards something more methodical and long-term, make it almost urgent. having women on sales teams and in decision-making roles:
“Women’s empathy and listening skills can explain why they manage to close more operations”…”the ability to generate long-term bonds”… “women are more productive because they direct their activity more to the morning hours, more than men men”…”women’s skills are also becoming more relevant in the fast-growing field of high-tech sales.” These are some of the current conceptions.
Genders or stereotypes?
What are we talking about when we talk about women’s skills? whatThere is a manual of skills with which women are born What makes us “finally relevant in a changed business world”?
In these cases underlies the structuralist notion of languagewhere the meaning is constructed through contrast, with the idea that a positive definition is supported by the negation of something contrary. These oppositions, and particularly sexual differences (female leadership and male leadership) serve to establish and sustain meanings that have nothing to do with gender, but with stereotypes and cultural representations.
If we believe that men and women have innate differences, opposed and antagonistic, then we will define leadership programs based on those differences. Therefore, everything that runs from “how we women should lead” is going to be outside the rule, and consequently, wrong.
Promote collaborative leadership not based on supposed gender differences
The danger of this highly biased view of the industry lies in ruling out any other variable that affects the promotion – or not – of women to leadership roles, especially in the commercial world. take us away from ask us the right questions:
- In what contexts do leaders make decisions? How many of those decisions occur in formal spaces and how many in informal spaces?
The world of sales has traditionally been configured under this “boys club” culture (dinner with clients, golf matches) where there is no place for the participation of women.
Women don’t need to be treated differently by being assigned to female leadership programs or male mentors to teach us to fulfill our potential. Which we need is to play by the same rules and have the same opportunities to occupy those decision-making spaces.
- What characteristics do we highlight in business executives that scare us to see in business executives?
Phrases like “men are ambitious and tend to take ownership of their successes; women are collaborative, they are more willing to share the credit for their achievements”, hold gender stereotypes, constructed and impartial to both sides: Neither men are experts in appropriating their successes, nor are women born to share the credit for our achievements.
Talking about developing female leadership based on socially constructed qualities assumes a stereotyped vision of reality and continues to place us in roles of passivity, care and dependencywhich are the factors that make it difficult for us to develop from our individuality, beyond gender stereotypes.
How to Promote Female Sales Leadership
Many articles talk about how the challenge in the world of sales has to do with being comfortable with risk and the uncertainty of long-term income, and that this would be what discourages some women from pursuing careers in sales. Let’s talk about people with more or less risk aversion, with more or less ambition, let’s talk about talents with more or less stability orientation, let’s stop talking about women and men based on categorical differences.
- How are we going to be sitting at the decision-making table, if care roles are traditionally placed on us?
Although this has changed, in interviews with women business leaders, they express that occupying leadership positions requires sacrifices and difficult decisions: Coordinate the agenda so that work obligations do not coincide with the schedule of family events. Any model of a female leader who strays away from this responsibility to support and care, which seems to be mandatory and innate, appears as a woman who does not meet the necessary expectations for the role.
Let’s talk about distributed leadership stylesan approach that transcends gender and focuses on collaboration, teamwork and the decentralization of power in decision-making and let’s talk about organizations that promote the development of collaborators based on their potential:
Instead of thinking of leaders who make all the decisions, let’s promote a collaborative perspective where each person has unique and valuable skills and knowledge that can be used for the benefit of the team and the organization.
