JANICE BUCK INLS 585

Perceived Lack of Self Confidence  Lack of Promotion Self confidence is a perceived quality, usually based upon how one presents oneself, usually in the form of communications BUT Many of these same women left the cooperation to form their own company, which requires a lot confidence in themselves!

Different cultures learn different styles of communications, starting from childhood Japanese communication styles are about “saving” face. Many confrontations are “indirect” allowing both sides to save face. Both sides are used to the indirect communications and the receiver understands the message.

The give-and-take during communications are directed by the speaker giving a pause in their speech. This signals that the other person can now speak. In the US, the length of the pause varies by region. The Northeast has very short pauses, but the South has longer pauses. A person from the South may think that the person from the Northeast “hogs” the conversation and is “pushy”; the person from the Northeast thinks the person from the South has nothing to say.

How Children Play [5] Boys play in larger groups and there is a hierarchy quickly established. Some boys give “orders” to the other boys in the group. Most of the order of the hierarchy is established through communications.

How Children Play [5] Girls play in small groups with best friends. Through communication, they support each other and strive to have the same status. One girl will be modest about her achievements with the expectation that the other will bring her back up to the same status. Girls do not want to be “bossy” or appear too sure of themselves.

In Corporate US [2] Male communication is considered “powerful” communication and is often considered effective leadership.  Competitive  Brief and concise  Minimizes emotional and interpersonal aspects of interaction

In Corporate US [2] Female communication is considered “powerless” communication.  Transactional, Cooperative  Polite and “Apologies” (“I am sorry your talk did not go well!”)  More adjectives  Statements as questions  About emotional and interpersonal aspects of interaction Some studies[2] have shown that female managers who communicate in a “masculine” style are viewed as ineffective and are not respected by their peers.

A study by Geddes[2] tested the effectiveness of the above communication styles plus a mixed speech style. The perceived effectiveness of the styles and of gender were: 1. Male or Female using mixed speech style ( ½ content was “powerful” and ½ was “powerless”) 2. Male or Female using “powerful” speech style 3. Male using “powerless” speech style 4. Female using “powerless” speech style

One of the ways that managers are noticed for promotion is their effective influence on management above them. A recent study [4] on PR Managers showed that there is no significant difference by gender in the communication style used with upper managers. It did find that the effective communication styles were assertive, rational, and had coalition claims of representing more than one’s self.

It is difficult within an organization to search for gender differences in communication styles of existing managers. The current managers, male and female, were selected based upon the same criteria and adapted to the same “socialization” forces within the organization. [1]

In order to overcome the “incongruity” of the traditional female role and leader role, many female leaders have had to both 1. Behave extremely competently 2. Assure others that they will/do conform to appropriate female behavior.

The world is changing. There are increasing numbers of female leaders. Some say business and organizations will be better for this increase because, in the future, organizations need cooperation and inspiration; those communication styles are expected more from female leaders. There are appear to be 3 changes in the world that are leading to this [1].

As women work more in industry and try to ascend the corporate ladder, they are adjusting their communication styles for success.

There appears to be an adoption of “androgynous” leadership styles. This is similar to the results above that showed that most effective communication style was the mixed-speech style.

Female leadership is more accepted, and in many instances, the selection of a female leader is a signal that the institution wants to be progressive. Note: Different cultures are changing at different rates. [3] Much of the above data is for US organizations and leaders.

Either! What is important is that the leader is adaptive and can use various communication styles comfortably and pick the one that meets the current need.

1. Eagly, Alice H.; Carli, Linda L. (2003). The female leadership advantage: An evaluation of the evidence. Leadership Quarterly, 14(6): Geddes, Doreen. (1992). Sex roles in management: The impact of varying power of speech style on union members’ Perception of Satisfaction and Effectiveness. Journal of Psychology, 126(6): Lämsä, Anna-Maija; Sintonen, Teppo. (2001). A Discursive Approach to Understanding Women Leaders in Working Life. Journal of Business Ethics, 34(3-4):255– O'Neil, Julie. (2004). Effects of Gender and Power on PR Managers' Upward Influence. Journal of Managerial Issues, 16(1): Tannen, D. (1995). The power of talk: who gets heard and why. Harvard Business Review, 73(5):