Women managers. Woman manager: socio-economic and psychological problems of becoming. Control work

Woman manager. It would seem that an absolutely normal phrase: a woman in a leadership position, managing people. But at the same time, such a combination still causes surprise and distrust among people. How is it that a woman runs a company? Is a woman more important than a man?

The relevance of this topic is just in relation to the woman manager. Even after women received the same rights as men, they were not admitted to managerial positions. In our country, during the Soviet era, a woman in a managerial position was a very rare exception. And even now, when the number of women in business is growing steadily, many believe that they have no place there. They say that a woman simply cannot cope with such work and responsibility. When I was choosing which institute to go to, some people did not advise choosing management. Firstly, because it is not very clear who to work next. And secondly, because: “Well, you’re a girl, where are your leaders? ”. There are many girls in my faculty who want to work in their specialty in the future, and I am sure that we will succeed as well, and maybe even better, than men.

When I was still in school, we elected the president of the high school council. There were 3 boys and 3 girls in the candidates. All of them had interesting programs, bright propaganda teams and strong performances. Then for the first time I heard from adults, smart and serious people that it was unlikely that a girl would be elected president. To my natural question “Why?”, I heard that in our country, in fact, the president is a man. The leaders of the parties are men. And in general, patriarchy. It was really a boy who won. Most likely, really honestly based on the results of the vote, but the very idea that a girl (very active, talented and responsible) may not be chosen simply because she was a female seemed to me very strange and wild. Moreover, it was only about the council of schoolchildren, and not about the Government of Russia. It seems to me that it is easier for a man to find a job and take managerial positions in it because employers are afraid of the problems that may arise when working with women. At least the fact that she can get pregnant and go on maternity leave.

When people talk about a woman headmaster at a school, it comes as no surprise. But if they talk about the head of a large company, the majority seems to be a man. A woman manager is not a creep from the Soviet film "Office Romance", completely immersed in work and even forgetting that she is a woman. Lyudmila Prokofievna, it seems to me, is rather the complete opposite of a successful leader. She, as her subordinates say, "... all shrinks, like an old ragged shoe, and now - scratches to work, as if driving piles." A real woman manager looks really successful, even appearance emphasizing his high position. Also, a woman is able to create a really warm atmosphere in the team, a clan culture, in which the manager will be perceived not as a dictator, but as a parent directing subordinates.

I am sure that women cannot be considered worse than men in anything just on the basis that we are the so-called "weaker sex". In this article, I want to examine the strengths and weaknesses of women as leaders and how they differ from men. When I read Maxim Batyrev's book “45 tattoos of a manager”, it seemed to me that there are tattoos, rules for all occasions. Now I think it would be good to add one simple phrase to them: "Women and men rule in different ways." Yes, unfortunately, I cannot yet give examples from my own life, starting stories with the words “When I worked in such and such a company ...”, but since I am a headman, I have already experienced a small part of people management from my own experience. I also had to deal with managers and leaders of both genders, so I can highlight some patterns. In terms of leadership styles, in my opinion, women are mostly democratic leaders. It is too difficult for women to ignore emotions, not to consult with anyone before making decisions. It is also possible that men are more forward-thinking, they can think through the affairs of the company for a long time ahead, while women rely more on intuition and think through tasks as they come. On the other hand, men are easier to take risks, for the sake of a big "win" they can sacrifice the company and available resources. A woman would rather leave things as they are and keep people. At the same time, it seems to me that women are less likely to make tough decisions guided by the very popular phrase “This is business” today. I don’t mean to say that men are supposed to be authoritarian leaders, but they do it a little better than women. If a woman raises her voice and bangs her fist on the table, it will more likely be perceived as hysterics, weakness. I noticed this in my own example. For any increase in tone, they simply say to me: “Yes, calm down, what are you.”. It is easier for a man to put an employee in his place. On the part of a man, a harsh tone more often causes a certain fear and people do as he said. The woman, on the other hand, seeks to motivate employees, uses persuasion methods. When talking to clients, it is also easier for a man to press on him and be persistent, which is extremely difficult for a woman. She will rather act softly, calmly proving the advantages of the company and the product to the client.

Also, due to the fact that women are more subject to emotions, they can commit rash acts. But at the same time, they are more sensitive, understanding leaders, able to listen to other people's opinions. Returning to the book by Maxim Batyrev, I want to highlight the tattoo “Do not discuss the decisions made with your subordinates”. Women often follow this rule, as they are able to change their minds depending on the reaction of the collective. Of course, sometimes this can have a negative effect, because the initial decision of the leader is more correct than what the subordinates advise, but in most cases the ability to listen and hear only helps. Also, women usually use feedback, learning from subordinates not only the results of work, but also their attitude to what is happening in the company. By my own example, I know how an outside opinion is important for a woman. After some public speeches, I want to know how I looked, if I said everything correctly. It seems to me that in the company this gives subordinates a certain confidence in themselves, in their own importance, which can even be attributed to one of the methods of motivation.

A woman intuitively guesses the mood of the client, knows how to listen to him, so she can more accurately understand what he needs. She often pays attention to little things that a man considers insignificant.

Some people find women to be more stressed than men. They say that in difficult situations, a woman becomes nervous and makes mistakes. But I, on the contrary, am sure that a woman copes with problems much easier. I have seen dozens of men give up when faced with adversity while the women continued to act. Perhaps men are able to remain cool and calmly reason in a stressful situation, but a woman can more easily and quickly get used to new conditions and, having made a mistake, quickly find a way to fix it.

It is probably more difficult for a woman to become a charismatic leader, but she can become a real manager, a professional, respected colleagues and clients.

Thus, I am absolutely sure that a woman is capable of becoming an excellent leader, leader and top manager of a company. Despite the fact that many still believe that a woman cannot properly and effectively manage people, women have many qualities thanks to which they can achieve greater results than a man. Also, a woman is unlikely to lose the company due to a rash desire to hit a big jackpot. Of course, women have character traits that play a negative role in the process of management and control, but such traits are also present in men, therefore it is absolutely wrong to judge only by gender, turning a blind eye to the objective advantages. I am sure that in the future more and more women will become managers and directors of companies, and stereotypes about women will finally disappear by themselves.

Topic: "Woman Manager"

Introduction

We've already heard about emancipation

Women think differently

Why individual women were able to break into leadership

Conclusion

Notes (edit)

Literature

Introduction

A woman manager is a worldwide phenomenon of the development of private entrepreneurship and the economy. After all, a manager is a member of an organization who carries out managerial activities and solves managerial tasks. It can be argued with full responsibility that managers are the key people in the organization. American researchers R. Peterson and K. Vermeier called this phenomenon "a quiet revolution on a global scale" 1. The intensity with which the “wave” of women's entrepreneurship is spreading around the world, testifying to the opportunities for women to start their own business, raises the question of the growth of their contribution to the world economy. The most dynamic processes of the formation of women's business are going on in the United States, which allowed J. Nasbit to call the 90s of the XX century “the decade of strengthening women in business” 2. Indeed, women's business is currently a powerful economic force 3.

In Russia, at the stage of transition to a market economy, the participation of women in entrepreneurial activity has also increased 4. It would seem, why should modern women not follow the example of their mothers who conquered space, raised virgin lands, and not start developing the virgin lands of domestic business? Why not lead the largest trust companies, trading and advertising firms?

However, this is not observed as often as we would like. For a successful career in a government agency or private firm, a woman needs to be more qualified than her male colleagues. After all, other things being equal, preference is always given to the stronger sex. According to statistics, working women are more educated than men, but wage they are almost a third lower. Public opinion of the 90s offers a woman the only alternative to become the wife of a successful businessman, to serve as the ideal of "home" and "motherhood." Men tried to prevent women from redistributing finances, power and property. The same thing happened in large and small businesses. Having captured the "commanding heights", men, if they take women into business, then even not for the second and third, but only for technical, auxiliary roles. According to male businessmen, women are poor strategists and are used to trusting feelings, not sober reason. If one of the fairer sex manages to achieve at least some success in business, then she will certainly be criticized. And as before, successful business women are denied the right to femininity, considering them to be a "middle sex" 5. Perhaps in business, women really deteriorate in character: they become tougher, more pragmatic. However, men do not change for the better either. Many turn into unprincipled cynics, and, by the way, much more often than women, do not restrain themselves in emotions. This social injustice forces us to take a closer look at the problems and benefits of women's governance.

We've already heard about emancipation

In Latin, the word "emancipare" means: to free the son from the paternal authority and thus declare him independent; formally refuse something, alienate, concede. The root of the word "emancipation" can be interpreted as "release from a certain role." For almost a century, emancipation has claimed to be an active element: women who are discriminated in the first place have been demanding the right to be released from the role imposed on them. They want to take what they don’t voluntarily take. The concept of "emancipation" in this case means a person's attempt to free himself from the circle of responsibilities that contradict his individual needs. This applies not only to women, but also to men.

If we proceed from the fact that the long-established image of a man (strong, courageous, resourceful) is outdated in the same way as the image of a woman (gentle, sensual, helpless), then emancipation is a common task for a man and a woman. A task that can only be solved by the combined efforts of men and women, for each individually will be defeated in the struggle for his liberation. Moreover, radical activity is more harmful than beneficial to the common cause.

How to promote emancipation as a manager

It is worth noting the truth of the saying of the Western adherent of Sufism (Sufism is a mystical trend in Islam) Sir Richard Burton: "Self-expression combined with respect for others is the only and sufficient goal of human life." The keywords in this quote are "respectful attitude towards others." If emancipation is understood as an attempt by both sexes to free themselves from anachronistic role-playing images, then this means not only a tolerant attitude towards opposite sex but also helping another to release from the role that does not meet those needs and diminishes self-esteem. Therefore, managers are encouraged to actively support their employees who are trying to free themselves from situations that discriminate against them. What do you need to do for this? First of all, to help them develop a sense of self-respect, to help them become economically independent, to give them the exclusive right to decide whether to have children or not, to promote mutual respect between employees of different genders.

Women think differently

No man can truly understand feminine logic. However, women are better able to penetrate the psyche of men. One of the best books on the relationship of the sexes to each other was written by two women who received a degree from Harvard Business School. This is Dr. Margaret Henning and Dr. Ani Jardin. The main thing in the results of their research can be distinguished as follows.

Women are very late in deciding to pursue a career. Often it is only after ten years of work in the firm that they decide to take a higher position, but for the planned career it is too late. Most women are too passive. Instead of doing something on their own, they let events take their course.

Women believe that self-fulfillment is the decisive factor for professional success. As a result, they cease to be interested in more essential things in their environment, they do not recognize and do not perceive any mutual loyal relationships, dependencies of relationships such as "you - me, me - you", mutual usefulness, patronage that arise between employees and are always taken into account to a certain extent in their activities by men. Women perceive careers as personal growth, as self-realization. Men, on the other hand, understand by career as prestigious and promising positions. Men do the work they do exclusively with their own ideas about a career, that is, they consider it as promotion, prosperity. Women share two concepts: work performed and career. Work for them is carried out "here and now", and a career is an exclusively personal goal, the results of achieving which can only be judged by the woman herself. From childhood, men are determined that they will work in order to at least be able to feed themselves. Only a small part of women in childhood thought about this issue. Most of them hope to find someone to support them. The difference in the mood and direction of thinking arising from the various ideas that develop in childhood is enormous. Men view their careers as an essential part of their lives. If there are any problems of a personal nature, then men are looking for an opportunity to "juggle" personal and professional "cards". Women, however, insist on a clear distinction between personal and professional problems; in the event of a conflict, they unambiguously choose one way or another. If men start their work at a firm, then they already automatically have a "general rod in a knapsack." Women, on the other hand, have to constantly prove by their work that they are doing their own thing, although everyone assumes the opposite.

Another typical difference relates to the concept of “personal strategy”. Men define it as the achievement of a set goal. When they are faced with a new task, they constantly ask the question: "What will it give me?" This is a crucial question, as it puts their future on their careers. Already during the game of football, boys learn how to form a team, what can be won and lost, that individual team members can have a bad character. As a rule, girls do not gain experience in acting as part of a team. If they play sports, they prefer solo sports such as equestrian sports or tennis. Most girls will never know what “team spirit” means, they don't learn to join groups and win together, despite the fact that individual members of the group do not evoke sympathy.

The next difference in the mindset of men and women is their risk assessment. For men, risk means loss or gain, victory or defeat, danger or chance. Women view risk as a fundamentally negative aspect. For them, it means loss, danger, pain. Whenever possible, they avoid risk.

Otherwise, women tend, in contrast to men in their role-playing behavior, to adhere to the view: "I am exactly who I am, whether others like it or not."

Women take everything very seriously. They put something very special into what is happening, so they react especially painfully to criticism and personal insults. The least of all they think about is that they can cope with work that they are not yet familiar with or that they have never done.

In conclusion, both authors summarize the research results that seem to them to be the most significant. The difference in thinking leads to the fact that a large number of boys learn to be friends with each other, and girls do not always find it necessary.

A man's group behavior is actually a phenomenon that makes women say something like this: “As soon as two men who absolutely hate each other can sit together in a meeting and pretend to respect and help each other while others know what is the reality? How can they be such hypocrites? " This question explains a lot. The activities of the company correspond to the activities of the team, whose members, on the one hand, care about profits, and on the other, only about their own survival. As long as there is no profit, the gain must be prudent. Why deliberately make enemies when you can move forward, make friends. Women, on the other hand, care about maintaining good relationships, since these relationships are an end in themselves for them. And there is hardly anything in the traditional female experience that can contradict this end in itself. On this basis, women find themselves in the trap of intolerance, which can be defined as follows: "I do not like him (her), I cannot work with her (him)."

Let's try to move from theory to practice. Suppose a young employee, after talking with her boss about her career, would decide to start her journey to the top. What should a chef do when he thinks a young woman is capable? He should take the following steps: 1) offer the woman several tasks of various kinds in order to establish what issues she is most powerful in: planning, organization, budgeting, negotiating, developing new ideas, and so on; 2) with the help of "especially important" tasks to determine how she reacts to workloads and is ready in such cases to work overtime and subordinate her personal interests to the interests of the company; 3) if she fails, then together with her find out why this happened. It is possible that she lacks the knowledge and skills to complete this particular task. Otherwise, he should praise her achievements in work and regularly discuss her successes so that she knows if she is on the right path; 4) support the young employee and understand with utmost clarity: while she is seeking good results, he, as a leader, will support her; 5) show that he provides assistance to this employee only because of the high results that she has achieved, and only because of this; 6) to prepare her for promotion to the middle management level, give her the opportunity to attend special courses so that she can learn how to make decisions, hold meetings, criticize subordinates and more; 7) after about a year's trial period, interview her again to help her finally decide what she wants to achieve while working for the company: whether she wants to deal with personnel issues, sales issues, or work in the marketing department; 8) in advance, the manager must understand for himself the following questions: what are my plans for this employee? Do I want to take her to my team for my promotion? Then I must gradually familiarize her with the tasks that fall within the remit of the next level of leadership. Many firms adhere to a well-known point of view: managers at all levels do not encourage capable and ambitious employees, but try to expel them from the firm, as they see them as rivals seeking to take their place. These short-sighted notions harm not only the firm, but also the leader himself. Why? Suppose a department head has a promising young man on his staff. The leader realizes that it is a pity if such a person will remain in his position all the time, so he systematically promotes him and one day offers him the vacant position of the group leader. Perhaps in two years he will already be the head of the department, and in another two - the chief head of the department. Now he has already bypassed his former leader. Is it bad? Of course not. On the contrary, his former leader now has a friend at a higher level of leadership who owes him his rise. Finally, suppose our department manager has pursued this support policy consistently over the years. Then, regardless of whether he climbs the career ladder or not, one day it turns out that he has friends in leadership positions who owe him their careers. In other words, the benefit from such a personnel policy is not only for the company itself, but also for the leader who implements this policy. Takeaway: Promotion of talented and ambitious employees, regardless of gender, is always beneficial.

Why individual women were able to break into the leadership of the company

The authors of this book, Henning and Jardin, interviewed 25 successful executives who have achieved the position of vice presidents of large firms. First of all, they were interested in the question: why were these women able to make a career? The results of this study are as follows.

1) Of twenty-five leaders, twenty were the only or oldest child in the family, the other five fell into the position of being born as the first child as a result of the circumstances (divorce of parents, death of older brothers and sisters).

2) All twenty-five respondents had good relationship with and with their fathers, they took part in an unusually wide traditionally male sphere of activity, and from an early age.

3) All the respondents were born in middle-class “aspiring upward” families. Twenty-two fathers held leadership positions in economics, the other three were college directors. Twenty-four mothers were housewives and one was a teacher. The educational level of twenty-three was at least the same as that of their fathers.

4) Of decisive importance was, obviously, the fact that the families had a special attitude towards these children, as to the first-born. And the feeling of this situation is deeply imprinted in the child's soul. Twenty-five women remembered that they had a happy childhood and that their parents played a special role in their eyes.

5) Fathers and daughters shared interests that are believed to be traditionally inherent in fathers and sons: exercise, sports, aggressive pursuit of success, willingness to compete, and a firm mindset to win. These successful women very early learned from their fathers to soberly assess the degree of risk, that is, consciously weigh their chances of success or failure. In this, all the women interviewed differed from the overwhelming majority of women, for whom risk means losses, so they tend to avoid them.

6) All twenty-five women during their school years were the best students and "leaders".

7) The fundamental prerequisites for any success are striving for it, an orientation towards good luck, a desire due to their knowledge. All twenty-five women possessed these, it was the result of their upbringing. All of the respondents were of the opinion that the efforts spent on this were not in vain, since they gained the respect and recognition of their parents.

8) All survey participants went to college with great diligence. The strategy they developed for themselves was that they set a goal, prioritize, and develop a program of action to enable them to identify and avoid false paths. In other words, already at that time their behavior did not differ from the behavior of a successful manager striving to reach the heights. They did not spend much time with men and generally divided them into two types: helpers like their fathers, and the rest.

9) All twenty-five women, at an early stage of their professional career, decided at their own peril and risk to pursue a career in one company. They came to the conclusion very early that a woman can only achieve a responsible and high position if she can do the job at a level better than any male employee of this company.

10) All the participants considered their first leadership position as the first rung of the ladder up. All of them very quickly identified another factor that decisively influences success or failure: having a good immediate leader.

11) These women were of the opinion that the development of good business relationships with men depends on how much they manage to "erase" gender differences and on the fact that their communication is focused on the functions or tasks performed. This means that they sought to downplay the fact that they were women and used competence as an essential element of self-affirmation.

12) They placed great emphasis on avoiding intimate relationships with men in the same firm or with whom they did business.

13) With the men who were their immediate leaders, these women developed good and strong friendly relations... Without exception, they all started out as personal secretaries or assistants to their boss. And when they reached the next step in their careers, for more high level they also rose. And this always happened at the suggestion of their leaders. They helped each of them, encouraged, inspired, were their teachers and support in the company. These executives admired their business skills and commitment to success. Leaders believed that women should move forward in private entrepreneurship, and they defended this point of view before their colleagues, as well as clients and customers.

14) The strategy of twenty-five women was to meet the requirements of a certain position above average, which was achieved by self-study at home and attending evening courses. Finishing work on the next rung, they were already able to perform more complex tasks at the next rung of the hierarchical ladder. And if their boss was promoted, they were ready to accompany him according to their level of competence.

15) When these women reached the level of the head of the department and had many men in their subordination, they could cope with this problem. One of the interviewees said: “I have come to the conclusion that I should try to ignore the problems associated with the relationship between men and women, and focus my attention on making my department a place where men can work well, improve their skills and promote up".

The price women pay for their careers

Problems for working women arise due to the fact that most of them, especially before starting their work, cannot decide for themselves two questions: whether they want to work in order to have money or to pursue a career, whether they should demonstrate your femininity? These are fundamental questions for every working woman 6. The answer to them depends on whether they will be happy in their professional activity or not, whether they will be satisfied with it or will feel themselves constantly “exploited”. To this day, complaints about “ungrateful firms” that are “pushing” devoted female employees into the background after they have left the firm for several decades still persist. What are these complaints based on?

Research results have shown that after about ten years of work, every woman has a stop 7. Some of them have already shown their business qualities, starting as a secretary, reaching the position of a middle manager, and by that time had reached the age of thirty or thirty-five. Others, more often than not, did not make any career, but worked diligently and faithfully in the positions of secretary or clerk. So we have two groups of working women.

The first group includes women who, regardless of their desires or abilities, have not made any career. Most of them married between the ages of twenty-five and thirty, but continued to work. These are the women who strictly separate their profession and personal life. We have already mentioned them. All this means that they live a stressful double life: at work, they do not want to admit bad words about themselves and work, therefore, sometimes to exhaustion. At home, they must take care of the children and please their spouse. Since not every woman can withstand such a long-term load, the time comes when she begins to "hand over" both at home and at work. If a woman has been happily working for more than twenty years at the company and in the meantime reaches the age at which birthdays are no longer officially celebrated, then the situation changes again: the children have grown up and left home, married life has become a meaningful ritual and routine at work, therefore that she knows all her professional duties by heart. If a man does not earn enough to maintain an appropriate standard of living, the wife continues to work for about fifteen years. The boss is pleased with the fact that he has a reliable employee, however, keeps her on a "short leash", especially in financial matters. And such a woman, one fine day, quite reasonably says that she has worked for a company all her life, and receives less money than young employees, and she will receive a small pension and so on.

The women of the second group have made a career. After ten years of work, they have reached the position of heads of departments, they are respected. Male colleagues say about them with admiration: "They are as smart as men!" And it is here that the dog is buried. All these women behaved like men and denied their femininity. They were somewhat cold, dressed strictly and some of them even perceived it as an insult if a man paid them compliments at work, noticed how good they looked. They tried to stay away from such “violators of the rules of the game”. All women, at the age of about forty-five, made a shocking discovery for themselves: suddenly it became clear to them that as women they missed everything in life, They have no husband, no children, no family life and, in general, their life is life. without emotional outbursts, the life of a "sexless worker bee". Is that how it should have been. Is this the meaning of life?

All participants in the study reacted to this experience in the same way: they set a moratorium on their careers, became less active in their work, and for the first time in almost one year reflected on their lives. This thought process led them to the same result: they decided to henceforth “be women” and behave accordingly. For the first time in their lives, they recognized themselves as women and radically rebuilt themselves. The majority of those surveyed married, most often men who were at least ten years older than them. And all this in order to live at least belatedly family life... The rest of the members were left alone. However, all the respondents began to visit beauty salons, use cosmetics, dress fashionably and emphatically feminine. Thanks to this, their communication skills improved, they began to like their surroundings more. And all the men from their professional environment said with confidence: "We like you more like that." The professional implications of this change were amazing. Step by step, these women began to delegate their powers to others and work out solutions together with those men who were in their subordination. They stopped caring about every little thing, which made it possible to systematically continue their careers to the level of the company's management. From dedicated professionals, they turned into leaders. This was facilitated by the fact that they were able to establish themselves as women and find their individuality.

In order for a woman to be both a good worker and an attractive woman, her spouse must take on a certain share of the burden of raising children and running a household. You cannot deprive her of the chance of self-realization in accordance with her own ideas. This can be greatly facilitated by work (including the pursuit of a career) or study. The increasingly frequent attempts to portray married life as a true partnership, in which the man is in a sense playing the role of “householder”, is seen as an encouraging sign. The problems of emancipation can only be solved by the joint efforts of men and women.

Another type of successful woman who can afford to be leaders without “suppressing” their femininity should be mentioned: we are talking about independent women entrepreneurs. All of them had a different path of ascent to the position of a leader: they either created companies themselves and put them on their feet, or received them as an inheritance, successfully continued the business already begun. However, these women-entrepreneurs in relation to the women who have made their careers, which were mentioned above, have a huge advantage: it was not easy for them to "break through" to the top. From the first day they were chefs and therefore could afford to be both a leader and a woman at the same time.

Conclusion

Studying the personality of an employee in an organization, in particular a woman leader, analyzing the influence of a leader, the socio-psychological structure and development of the team is one of the most important factors in improving the efficiency of the team. The manager must take care of the promotion of employees of either gender. And a woman as a leader can be given preference in some cases (depending on the working conditions, the nature of the work), since she more deeply feels the relationship in the team, intuitively evaluates the behavior of other people, is more sensitive to the nuances of relationships between people and in relation to herself ...

When a woman is promoted to the position of a leader, it is very important to recognize her equality, the equality of her opportunities and abilities in managing the team. If a woman leader is able to combine the qualities of a real leader (strong character, professionalism, initiative, ability to take risks) with traditionally feminine values ​​such as sensitivity, humanity, flexibility, cunning, practicality, then she can become an ideal leader. Men’s persistent belief that women should be more concerned with the home and children, or that women can only be leaders in traditionally female positions under the leadership of men, prevents women from being promoted to leadership positions. Neither society nor the state can do without taking into account the opinion of women when making decisions. Therefore, women should be involved at all levels of decision-making and be represented in the executive and legislative branches. Although the full realization of the right to equal representation of men and women in government is still a long way off, targeted efforts are needed to increase the proportion of women politicians and women managers.

The question of whether or not to be a leader should be decided by everyone, but at the same time, men and women should have equal opportunities through building a system of training for the promotion of personnel.

Notes (edit)

1 Peterson R., Weirmair K. Woman Entrpreneurs Economic Development Change. - Journal of Development Planning, 1988, No 18

2 Naisbitt J. Aburdene P. Coup d'etal daus I'entreppriuse. P. 1986, p. 218

3 Woman's Business Issues: Hearing before the Commision on Small Business; House of Representatives; 102 nd Cond, Ist sess, Washington, DC, 1991, Apr. 18 Wash .: GPO. 1991, III 174 P, p. 4, 6

4 A working woman in the context of Russia's transition to the market. Ed. L. Rzhanitsyna. Moscow: IE RAN, 1993, p. 31

5 Vasilyeva G. The first steps of women entrepreneurs - Man and Labor, 1995, No. 1

6 Samartseva O., Grebneva T. Gender characteristics of management. In collection: Russian Entrepreneurship: Strategy, Power, Management. Moscow: IE RAN, 2000

7 Barsukova S. Specificity of female management. - Sociological research, 1999, No. 9

Literature

1. Vikhanskiy OS, Naumov AI "Management": Textbook - 3rd ed. - M .: Gardarika, 1998

2. Baldin KV, Vorobiev SN, Utkin VB "Management decisions": Textbook - 3rd ed. - M .: Publishing and Trade Corporation "Dashkov and Co", 2006

3. Reznik S. D. "Personal management": Textbook - P 27 2nd ed .: revised. and add. - M .: INFRA-M, 2006

4. Taranov P. S. "The Golden Book of the Head" - M .: Agency "FAIR", 1997

5. Research M. Henning and A. Jardin from different sources

6. // Issues of Economics No. 3 2000, p. 74

7. // Business Lady, March 2001, - ed. - M .: OOO "Domidey"

8. // Business Lady, April 2001, - ed. - M .: OOO "Domidey"

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Theoretical aspects of the problem of the emancipation of women in modern society... Features of the manifestation of emancipation in a professional environment. Generalization of the results of the study of Henning and Jardin on the reasons for the career growth of female top executives.

abstract, added 06/25/2010


The essence and role functions of a manager in management, features of the development of his image: the culture of clothes of a businessman and a business woman, mastery of the art of oral and written business speech. Classification and main characteristics of the manager's leadership style.

term paper, added 12/25/2010


Factors of adaptation to professional activity. Organization and research methods of social and psychological professional adaptation of young specialists. Analysis of personal characteristics and structure of motivation among customer service managers.

thesis, added 05/18/2012


Manager in the control system. The essence of his role functions, image and leadership styles in a modern enterprise. The culture of the clothes of the businessman and business woman. Proficiency in the art of oral and written business speech. Classification of leadership styles.

term paper, added 08/12/2016


Personal characteristics that determine the professional success of the leader. Psychological requirements for a leader as an organizer. Image from a psychological point of view. A perfect portrait of a female executive.

term paper, added 10/26/2011


Aspects of studying female leaders from the standpoint of different disciplinary approaches. Comparative characteristics, general and specific models of male and female leadership. External and internal strategies for the interaction of a woman leader in the business environment.

term paper, added 12/04/2014


Business career planning. The activity of a manager as a team leader. Leadership style and management efficiency. Personal qualities of a manager in the management system at Plus Guarantee Kursk LLC. Improving the personality of the leader.

term paper, added 05/19/2012


A woman is a leader, myths and reality. The difference between male and female leadership styles. Perceptions of female leadership by men and women. Features of female thinking. Business woman shaping. A woman is a leader at work and at home.

1. Behavior in society and with partners
In the business world, there are tough laws of behavior on the basis of which partners decide whether or not to make a deal with this business person or firm. Good orientation in ethics and business partnership protocol is essential for a business woman. This will ensure that business intentions are carried out efficiently and reliably and will protect against unwanted effects. The protocol is a form of expression of good manners in relations between partners and, like politeness, is a set of rules of conduct, norms and traditions in formal negotiations and informal meetings, the protocol helps to avoid conflict situations. Even the ancients said: "Protocol is the incense of friendship." Compliance with the protocol shows that the partners respect each other. So, for example, accuracy is a sign of a serious attitude to business, commitment. It is still acceptable to be 10 - 15 minutes late for a meeting, but a longer delay is considered gross impoliteness. It should be noted that when communicating, it is important not only what you say, but also how you say it. Facial expression, gestures, posture, voice, smile, look, pause can sometimes tell your interlocutors much more than the content of what was said. The most attentive interlocutors (partners) to your facial expressions, "petrified face", frowning eyebrows, grimaces cause feelings of irritation in the interlocutor. Business etiquette is a compass of a business woman's behavior, showing how to behave and how to act in each specific situation, in accordance with the official and social status of the participants in the communication. Business etiquette has its own characteristics that distinguish it from public etiquette. So, for example, in business etiquette different rules, attitudes towards a woman. In accordance with business etiquette, the first to enter and exit the meeting room is the senior; on the place of honor in the car - the rear right seat - the head of the delegation sits down. Here, distinguishing, in the status of women and men recedes into the background, and everything is determined by the rank of the participant. In a business setting, a man is not required to give a woman a hand when she gets out of a car.

2. A woman in the role of a leader
Opinions about women leaders are different and sometimes contradictory. Some believe that they should not be allowed into power, this is the "holy of holies" of men, arguing that men think faster, and, most importantly, that they are more confident in themselves. Others prefer skirted executives because they are more accommodating and less ambitious. Psychologists give preference to female leaders, arguing that:
- women make the best leaders, because - they know how to think about several things at once and, at the same time, make plans for the future, while men are able to concentrate on one issue, preferring to solve issues consistently;
- women are inherently more organized and able to act effectively because they are mothers. Taking responsibility is in the nature of a woman;
- women are more purposeful and more consistent than men, they notice, analyze and take into account the nuances of work better;
- female managers outperform their male colleagues in almost all respects. They are more sociable, better use opportunities to resolve feedback issues, and have a more trusting behavior.
They perform better organizational and planning functions, quickly adapt to changing conditions, and, reckoning with their subordinates, contribute to this increase in labor productivity.
- women managers know better the "code to the safe" of users with the products of their business, they are focused on the client, on a new product
(service) that the market needs.
However, psychologists also point to the shadow sides of a woman-leader: - she has to demonstrate purely "masculine" traits, in particular, aggressiveness and toughness.
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- as a leader, a woman is often devoid of the scale inherent in men
- power spoils a woman much more than a man
- a man will sooner understand what a business partner requires of him, and will quickly get involved in work
- a woman's focus on her career, giving back to her beloved work often harms the well-being of the family.
Women leaders who strive to work seriously and productively in business and enter the cohort of leading leaders must, first of all, clearly answer to themselves the question, what does work mean to them? For a joyless job, even if it is prestigious and highly paid, is a heavy cross that a person carries through life. If the work is not enjoyable, you will think that you are investing more in the business than it ever returns to you.
3. Formation of a business woman
3.1. Characteristic psychological traits of a modern woman
In the research conducted by the Research Center, the women interviewed noted that work allows them to show creativity, initiative, and arouses respect from acquaintances, friends, and relatives. But these prestigious last moments are of little importance. The fact that for women the motives of labor are, as it were, external, is alarming and gives food for thought, and labor is, to a lesser extent, an intrinsic value. The professional status of a woman is seriously influenced by her marital status, the need to combine roles, which limits the choice of activities, complicates job promotion, and creates difficulties in work. About 1/3 of the respondents indicated a high nervous load, 14% of female workers and 19% of office workers noted fatigue caused by housework and illness of children. Thus, the actual professional difficulties recede before the excessive workload of women - at work and at home. Hence, fatigue, and constant nervous tension, fear of not being in time, not coping, etc.
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Of course, all these leading circumstances make it difficult for women to fully engage in professional activities. Let's try to summarize those psychological traits that characterize a modern woman. First of all, it is a deep awareness of equality, equality of their opportunities and abilities to participate in all spheres of society. Another important feature is the recognition of the need to combine different social roles- not only an active participant in labor and social life, but also a “mistress of the house”, a mother. Women elect different options combinations of these roles, although most are steadily guided by their equal importance. A woman makes a specific choice in life herself in accordance with her personal qualities, preferences, tastes, life circumstances, but the possibility of such a choice strongly depends on what economic and moral support the state and society will provide her on each of the paths she has chosen. However, no, even the most progressive, social practice can eliminate the psychological difficulties that arise when a woman is "double" employed at work and at home. The equal position of women in society significantly changes the traditional ideas about such traits as masculinity and femininity. A woman is now more inherent in such behavior patterns that were previously assigned to men, for example, the skill and ability to make decisions, defend their opinion, independence.

3.2. Business woman image
It is noticed that there are no obvious fools among the true leaders.
Intelligence is a must for them. They may even be uneducated in terms of abstract intelligence, but the ability to manage people or social intelligence is inherent in them. It is very important that most leaders tend to make decisions individually, not submitting to external pressures. Intellectual independence is what distinguishes a true leader. He is also emotionally stable. In the language of psychologists, this valuable quality is called
"Heart attack resistance" - the absence of fear and anxiety. Neuroticism is contraindicated for a leader. Probably, the image of a successful man, a self-confident leader or a businessman has already appeared in the imagination ...
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This was the case until recently, when business women, bright personalities, proactive, energetic, not afraid of difficulties appeared on the life arena. Our society is still far from stability, and it is in a stable society that a woman has more chances to take leadership positions. In our society, a woman found herself in a paradoxical situation: she was charged with all the responsibility for the family, while the man was removed from family responsibility. Women did not have opportunities for functioning outside the family, opportunities for business activity. Now the Western model of culture is increasingly being transferred to our soil, and a previously non-existent type of business woman has appeared. But you have to pay for everything - in the new role, women are forced to abandon traditional female values, accepting traditionally male values. The conflict consists in the contradiction between the values ​​of “family, home, love” and the values ​​of independence and growth. Occupying a leading position, they did their best to abolish the leader in themselves, because unquestioning obedience to superiors was incompatible with such qualities of a real leader as passion, initiative, obstinacy, after all, for these reasons, many were akin to secretaries. Climbing the ladder of success turned out to be difficult and unsafe. A business woman must constantly prove to herself and those around her that she is doing her own business. Approximately 1/3 of all nervous breakdowns in business women come from the clash between their roles as a manager at work and a performer at home. Both authors came to the conclusion that the main obstacle in the business career of many women is the inability of girls, and then women, to get along with each other, to “play in a team,” to be condescending to the shortcomings of other people. But a woman has a number of advantages, having realized which, she can become a successful leader. A woman-leader has a more subtle social intelligence, she more subtly feels the nuances of relationships, including the attitude towards herself. She knows how to evaluate and predict the behavior of other people. True, she is more than men, the danger lies in wait for her emotions. And hysteria and leadership are incompatible things. A woman has more contact and practicality of thinking. If a man is inclined to make long-term plans, to rely on a long-term perspective, then a woman prefers a concretely guaranteed result, "here and now." A woman is better than a man in controlling her own and other people's mistakes; she tends to be better at formulating her thoughts and expressing ideas.
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It is noticed that she is less responsive than men to courtship and sexual claims in business relationships. She clearly distinguishes between business and entertainment. One of the main pitfalls in the development of a business woman's career is the lack of a global, overview view of the problem, more developed conservatism, a tendency to get bogged down in trifles and emotions, and get stuck in the system of human relations. These "demons" can play a cruel joke with a business woman. Therefore, the advice of a man is always desirable.
3.3. Female leader at work and at home
Recently, it has become fashionable to constantly remind a woman of her natural purpose - to be the keeper of the hearth, the organizer of the household, the educator of children. A woman listens (yes, it sounds good!), Agrees (the family is her world) and does ... in her own way, striving to prove herself not only in the rank of “home manager. The woman is in some kind of vicious circle. It is difficult for her to be a full-fledged leader, because she has a family, children, her own personal concerns. And at the same time, the profession of a leader does not give her the role of mistress of the house, mother, wife. This contradiction, in which some even see unnaturalness, constantly accompanies a woman, no matter what position she occupies.
3.4. To be or not to be?
There are women who would like to be a leader, but cannot.
What are the obstacles? First of all, leadership takes a long time. The average working day for a shop manager, director of an industrial enterprise and their deputies is 10-12 hours. As they jokingly say, they have an 8-hour working day - from 8 am to 8 pm. Heads of departments and services are a little less busy. Lack of time is one of the professional acquisitions of a manager. Inequality is inevitable: if something consumes most of the day, then there is very, very little time for everything else. Therefore, in order to gain or acquire time, a woman refuses a time-consuming profession. This psychological feature should also be taken into account. The woman has developed the habit of taking care of the house for centuries.
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The man constantly and easily moves away from family affairs. Arriving at work, he kind of takes them off along with a coat or jacket. A woman, on the contrary, constantly carries them with her. Also in a leadership position. The maelstrom of affairs washes away household chores from a man, and for a woman they are part of the daily whirlwind. And this attention on two fronts makes the leadership profession for a woman more difficult. The second of the main obstacles for a woman on the path of leadership is the problem of "food - cooking". You can start with a loud phrase: solving the food problem is one of the ways to liberate modern women and women of future generations. When a grandmother or a mother acts skillfully on the food and food front, this relieves a business woman of a significant burden. It is much more difficult for a woman, a leader by profession, than for an ordinary housewife because of the unsettled life. The experience of various countries in facilitating domestic work is approximately the same: food is prepared from high-quality and diverse semi-finished products, the level of kitchen mechanization and automation is being raised, and the service sector is being developed. But, nevertheless, here male production workers are indebted to women. Or maybe it is beneficial for them that this debt remains as long as possible? A man at home is more willing to become a subordinate. According to the ancient tradition of the house, a woman turns into a household manager, combining the functions of the "minister of finance", the head of "supply and sales", the head of the department of "public education", a cook, a handyman, etc. She performs various roles and types of work, both envisaged and not envisaged by the play of life. Much in the development of a woman leader depends on how the husband and the closest family environment relates and understands this profession. If a man is offered to become a leader, then this is perceived naturally. And the phrase "woman leader" contains many contradictions. How many cases are known when the business career of women ended because of family conflicts: the husband is angry that the wife leaves early and arrives late, the apartment is uncomfortable. A child was born - things increased at home. This is also a reason to refuse leadership. But there are many women who have worked as leaders in industry for a long time, with a difficult family fate, which often did not work out in the classical sense. They have not changed their profession. According to women leaders, the primary factor that creates conditions for their effective activity is the strength and reliability of the “rear”: good relations between relatives,
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their ability to independently cope with household chores. In this regard, we come to a very specific problem that has not yet been studied by science. It is usually considered as follows: here is the leader, and what kind of relationships he has in the family, what is his personal life, this does not particularly bother anyone, except for a curious researcher, a compassionate comrade and a sympathetic friend. Affects the habit of looking only at the production side of the manager's life, forgetting that he also has a personal one. This deeply rooted stereotype can explain the fact that today you will not find the results of our sociological research devoted to the second life of a leader - at home, in the family, as well as the influence of the family on production. Another obstacle in the problem of whether or not a woman to be a leader is the attitude of men towards her. Despite the outward diplomatic gloss of reasoning about the admissibility and possibility of female leadership, male leaders have different points of view. The first is the complete denial of the need to promote women to leadership positions. Leading argument: let them take care of the house, children and themselves more. Previously, such a view was labeled as a preacher of the bourgeois theory of the "three K" - Kinder (children), Kurhe (kitchen) and Kirche (church). But views are formed and change depending on being. At least women agree with male deniers on the first "K". The second view comes down to the specifics of the female leadership style and the problems of combining with it the male style of submission to a woman. The complexity of the acquisition of professional qualities by a woman-leader is especially emphasized. Supporters of this position oppose the woman in her career. Some women leaders feel this view on themselves and quite clearly understand its “global” and specific reasons. Third point of view: a woman can be a leader, but within a limited space, in traditional female positions, under the leadership of a man, etc. There is a reason. The fact is that line positions in the field of, for example, industrial production (foreman, senior foreman, head of a section and a shop, deputy head of a shop) are at the forefront of the struggle for a plan, for completing tasks. This is the busiest and even the most overworked part of managers. Somewhat less, although its content is not easy, the workload of those who heads the so-called functional units - departments, services, bureaus, laboratories. Leadership positions here are more feasible for a woman. Therefore, in practice, willy-nilly, a hierarchy of female leadership positions has developed.
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Among men, there are those who do not make any special distinctions between male and female leaders. Today, about 12% of women leaders work in industry. The male attitude towards women, which exists in a specific management environment, and the views of women on the leadership profession, taking into account various circumstances, affects the system of promotion and work with the talent pool. It is believed that personal sympathy is not the least important. Although it is not customary to expand on this, it should be recognized that psychological factors play a very important role in leadership. Some women have become leaders (and good ones at the same time), thanks to the sympathy and support from the man. Without this, the woman would simply be “eaten” by the “wild beasts” in the dense management forest ”. And vice versa, others did not show their organizational skills, because they were not helped in time, not helped in word and deed. But all the same, the promotion of women to leadership positions does not have a stable organizational character. The child, so needed by society, becomes an obstacle on the path of a business woman. Other young female specialists with higher education are greatly offended by the fact that only males are wooed as leaders. It seems that in this respect, men and women should have equal opportunities through building a training system and promoting personnel. Everyone strives to choose what he likes. And the question of whether or not to be a leader, let the person who wishes decide, first of all, himself and at the family council.
3.5. How to become a leader
In the diverse set of cases associated with the choice and formation of a woman as a leader, several typical situations can be distinguished. This approach in management science is used quite often, since it allows you to show not so much how it should be, but how it really is.
The first is a typical situation. To work as a leader, I had to overcome the resistance of my husband and relatives. The choice of the profession of a leader is influenced not only by the personal qualities of a woman, some life circumstances, but also by the attitude in the family to this type of activity. When a woman leader does not find support in the family, the family often breaks up in such cases, or the woman has to give up her career.
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For a woman, becoming a leader means, to a certain extent, ceasing to be a mother, wife and mistress of the house. For a woman to be both a good worker and an attractive woman, her spouse must take on some of the burden of raising children and running a household. You can not deprive her of the chance of self-realization in accordance with her own ideas. This can be greatly facilitated by work (including the pursuit of a career) or study. The increasingly frequent attempts to present married life as a true partnership, in which the man is in a sense playing the role of “householder,” I see as an encouraging sign.
The second typical situation. It all happened suddenly, by accident. There are quite a few “sudden, accidental leaders”. Upon learning of this, some immediately begin to talk about the haphazard selection of personnel, shortcomings in the personnel corps. There is some truth in this. It is generally accepted that the recruiting system should resemble some kind of ideal mechanism for supplying the required leaders. In fact, in spite of this or that organizational framework, he acts primarily according to human rules, which cannot be replaced by any others. After all, the choice of a leader is nothing more than an expression of a person's relationship to a person. The principle of surprise and randomness is not so sudden and accidental as it might seem at first glance. People recognize each other when working together, show interests, inclinations, likes and dislikes, use their own and others' assessments of qualities, character traits, depend on some circumstances. Therefore, an unexpected proposal to take this or that position of the leader usually has its own specific source and internal logic, incomprehensible to the uninitiated. When a woman becomes a leader, it is possible that the organization needs to look for a man who sympathizes with her and is her unofficial patron or ally. To overcome the ordinance of personnel in practice, especially in recent years, the open nomination of candidates for the leadership reserve at meetings of labor collectives is used. The moment of surprise has its continuation associated with how the transformation into a leader actually takes place. The rule of cold water is widespread: a novice manager who has no special training and has a poor understanding of the leadership process is thrown into the sea of ​​affairs, where he is mercilessly drawn into a whirlpool of worries, troubles, problems.
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The forced knowledge of the profession begins by the method of trial and error, without which, however, even trained leaders never did and never do. Perhaps the most difficult stage for a young leader - both women and men - is the initial one, where a psychological breakdown is likely for some reason. Some gut do not perceive the bureaucratic content of the work - the signing of pieces of paper, the sitter's carousel, the "come on, come on" method. Others are simply squeezed by the press of time, it does not remain for anything but official activities. Still others are not satisfied with the style of communication with them by the superior leader, etc. There are many reasons, and they force them to pass judgment on themselves: "This profession is not for you, not for your family." It happens that a more experienced colleague overturns the sentence, helping in word and deed. But a sense of reality, intuition, especially for a woman, is crucial.
The third typical situation... I became a leader thanks to special training. Leaders are not born, they are made. For a person to become a leader, a training system is needed, at least a minimal one. A woman who has decided on leadership is often asked: “Why do you need to be a leader?”, “And if you have a child, and then another one or twins at once?”, “Do you have enough courage and strength?”, “Can you imagine yourself, what will be more and more difficult next? ”,“ Isn't it better to give way to men? ”,“ Think and think again ”, etc. Among the various types of professional training of managers, the system of work with young specialists at the enterprise is effective. It includes mastering the theoretical and practical foundations of leadership for a specific program and training in leadership positions in auxiliary and main shops, in plant management. For a real test of one's abilities, as well as the acquisition of practical knowledge, skills and abilities, an internship is useful, which has several varieties: an internship next to a skillful leader; internship in the absence of the head; one-time internship. After an internship, when appointed to the position of a manager, a person is already familiar to some extent with the profession and acts more confidently and competently.
Fourth situation... Self-employed woman leader. There is another type of successful women who can afford to be leaders without “suppressing” their femininity: we are talking about self-employed women entrepreneurs.

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All of them had a different path of ascent to the position of a leader: they either created companies themselves and put them on their feet, or they inherited them and successfully continued the business already begun. However, these women entrepreneurs have a huge advantage in relation to women who have made a career: they did not have to "break through" to the top. From the first day they were chefs and therefore could afford to be both a leader and a woman at the same time. Our so often criticized capitalist society has a huge advantage; every diligent and success-oriented person can become independent without capital and succeed in his own business!
4. Qualities and style of female leadership
The authors of management literature are so accustomed to "dancing from a man" that for a long time any attempts to define the quality and style of female leadership were considered unnecessary. A typical argument was the thesis that leaders of both sexes have to turn around in the same way. But men and women play in their own way.
4.1. Men about a woman leader
Currently, over 80 positive qualities have been formulated in management science, each of which has its opposite.
At the same time, the very sequence of qualities should not be absolutized: this is in the first place, the other is in the second, etc. Each person has his own perception of a particular leader. But many opinions combine to create a generalized image with their own set of properties. First place men put femininity, good looks, charm. Men do not like in a woman in general, and in a woman-leader, especially slovenliness, untidiness. They do not like tastelessly dressed women who do not know the measures in cosmetics and jewelry. Self-instruction manuals on facial expressions, gestures, smiles, business speech and dress, communication etiquette are issued for managers. These leadership attributes are very important. By the way, a woman, well, feels the rules of etiquette intuitively. Second group
etc.................

Many businesswomen lead businesses in male-led companies, but more than half of them say they have succeeded without any male support. And although women leaders often strive for leadership not only at work, but also in the family, they manage to combine a responsible position and a prosperous personal life - a recent study by the headhunting company Agency Contact showed.

According to the majority of the survey participants, in Russia women hold high management positions in 20-40% of companies, while in the West the share of women leaders is approximately 50%.

At the same time, in the context of different sectors of the Russian and Western economies, the ratio of women in top management differs in many respects, which allows us to speak of different perceptions of “purely female” and “purely male” careers.

So, in our country, in the field of tourism and hospitality, there are almost twice as many women top managers than in the West (16% versus 8.5%), approximately the same picture is observed in the sports, fashion and beauty industries (15% versus 7%) ... But in the domestic extractive industry and construction, there are very few women managers (only 0.10% each), while in foreign companies - 3% and 4%, respectively. However, there are industries where the gap is not so significant (advertising and media - 13% in Russia and 10% in the West; consulting - 7% and 6%, respectively) and even absent (FMCG - 8% each).

73% of the business women surveyed primarily value professionalism and emphasize that qualifications do not in any way depend on gender, but 22% of respondents still prefer to work with men and only 4.5% - with women.

At the same time, in most cases (77%), the post of CEO is held by a man, and only 23% of companies are headed by women.

Interestingly, women-leaders mostly work in direct subordination to women (70%). And although only 30% of the survey participants indicated that men predominate among their subordinates, for last time this figure has increased significantly (5 years ago it was 8.5%) - the authors of the study note.

Almost a third of the business women surveyed (32%) admit that women are most often involved in labor conflicts, while men are less prone to confrontation (11%). At the same time, more than half of the respondents (56%) claim that they never have conflict situations at work.

28% of successful business women reached career heights largely due to male support, 22% admit that men helped them to advance in the service, but this assistance was very small. Almost half of successful business women (47%) say that they do not owe men their achievements at all, and 3% refused the offered patronage.

Almost all women who have acquired some influence and now occupy a high management position (80%) are ready to contribute to the career growth of employees, regardless of gender. About 15% help women to advance to a greater extent, and only 6% singled out men.

The survey has shown that many women-leaders are characterized by career mobility: 31% of them change jobs every 5-10 years, 47% - every 3-5 years, another 11% find new opportunities every 1-2 years. And only 11% of the survey participants have held a position in one company for more than 10 years.

Russian business women are quite active and ambitious: 60% of them do not even think about stopping on their way to new career heights. Only 17% expect to end their careers in about 15 years, another 13% consider a 10-year period, and only 10% talk about a relatively early career end - within 5 years.

The results of the Kontakt Agency research (as well as hundreds of global and regional studies devoted to the topic of leadership, motivation and engagement) once again confirm that the priorities of high-potential employees of companies around the world coincide, regardless of gender. For Russian women leaders, the most important things in their work are interesting projects (60%), opportunities for career and professional growth (53%), and high salaries (52%).

Among the least important factors, respondents noted the opportunity for women with children to work from home 1-2 days a week (62%), health insurance for children (50%) and the preservation of 100% of salaries during pregnancy and maternity leave (34%).

At the same time, it would be wrong to assume that successful business women are obsessed with their careers, and for them there are no family values ​​or household chores. More than half of them are married, most have children (51% have one child, 20% have two, and 5% have three children). Only 24% of the survey participants do not yet have children, and only 13% have never been officially married.

The fair sex has many roles. 49% of top managers cook their own food, and 31% share kitchen work with husbands and partners. Only 10% of those surveyed trust housekeepers to cook, 6% have transferred this responsibility to their husbands, and only 4% prefer to eat in restaurants.

Judging by the answers, women who manage departments and entire companies well have well-developed skills in “home management”: 38% of the survey participants share household chores among all family members, and 36% cope with all matters on their own. Another 21% use the services of housekeepers, and 5% entrusted all family chores to their husbands.

29% married women executives earn more than their men, and 19% have the same income. It is noteworthy that business women in the family also strive for leadership and gender equality: 50% manage the family budget independently, 46% together with their husband.

What is the secret of a business woman who manages to combine responsible work and a prosperous personal life? First of all - in wisdom and understanding (43% of responses), in the desire to combine it (40%) and the desire for harmony (32%). For 21%, a successful marriage means a lot - for a person who will not compete for leadership and patience (19%), many noted an interesting job for both partners, great love for the family and optimism (14% each). Luck and common sense also to some extent affect the work / life balance (7%), but the choice of a place of work where personal and family values ​​are recognized as part of the corporate culture means practically nothing (3%).

About research

The study by "Agency" Contact "involved 310 women top managers of Russian and international companies from various sectors of the economy (medium and large business).

Age of participants:

• 26-35 years old - 16%
• 36-45 years old - 58%
• 46-55 years old - 22%
• 55 and older - 4%