Are women better leaders?

They are when they act with humility, self-awareness, self-control, moral sensitivity and kindness.

I just finished an interview with the female CEO of a fairly large credit union. I love conducting interviews. It’s my favorite part of my job, and luckily, I get to conduct a lot of them. As president of consulting services at Quantum Governance, I’ve probably interviewed thousands of credit union board members, supervisory and audit committee members, CEOs and members of senior management. And each time, I learn a lot.

During this interview, the CEO was talking about adding her opinion in the boardroom on a sensitive topic. She stopped mid-sentence and stared off into space for a minute. (We were, of course, on Zoom.)

I pushed her just a bit, inviting her return: “What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I’m wondering how much I can say, how much I should say,” she replied. “What’s the right balance for me to share in the boardroom?”

 

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