When Leadership Has a Double Standard
Women in healthcare leadership can face conflicting expectations about how they should lead. This article examines the double bind and its implications for authentic leadership, emotional intelligence, and organizational culture.
Too confident. Too collaborative. Too ambitious. Not assertive enough. For women in healthcare leadership, the expectations can sometimes seem impossible to get right.
This interview explores the “double bind” women leaders can face, where behaviors viewed positively in male leaders may be interpreted differently when demonstrated by women. It raises an important question for leadership development: Are we developing leaders to lead authentically, or teaching them to adapt to expectations that may be inconsistent or biased?
From an HLF perspective, this connects directly to self-awareness, emotional intelligence, authenticity, and inclusive leadership. Leadership development should help individuals understand their strengths, expand their capabilities, and lead effectively without requiring them to conform to a narrow model of what leadership should look like.
It also challenges organizations to look beyond individual development. If leaders consistently receive different feedback or face different expectations based on gender, leadership development alone cannot solve the problem. Organizational culture, feedback practices, and definitions of effective leadership matter too.
Reflection Questions
Where might leaders in your organization experience conflicting expectations about how they “should” lead?
How can leadership development support authenticity without asking people to conform?
What responsibility do organizations have to examine the leadership expectations and feedback they create?