Business

The leadership theory by Max Weber defines a charismatic leader to be a transformational leader. He defines a transformational leader is someone who can sway the results in his favor by effective use of charisma  charm (Leadership Theories, 2007).  In the similar vein, another theory by George Burns, describes how clarity of vision and ability to transform society by appropriate use of personal charm makes up the transformational leader (Leadership Theories, 2007).

Various surveys conducted by different individuals and organizations point to the transformational leadership qualities of women. Caliper, a New Jersey based Management consulting firm, concluded on the natural persuasive powers, risk appetite, and team player approach of a women leaders (Lowen, 2010).  The definition of transformational leadership is the ability to motivate others to do more than the original intention as well as what they thought they could possibly do (Bass, 1994, quoted in Australian business leadership Survey, 2001).  The Australian business leadership survey (2001) concludes that the leadership styles are different for genders. The study goes on to confirm the previous research findings that women use transformational leadership style more often than men do.

The following pages discuss the findings of the literature review in the context of stereotype image of the women leaders, created due to the perceptions of the society since time immemorial,  resulting in the bias in all occupations, whether it is political or corporate. On the contrary, the findings also point out the diagrammatically opposite view put forward by various surveys and studies, which essentially entails the transformational leadership quality of women leaders.
Perception of Women Leaders across culture

One of the key finding of the study conducted by Kawakami et al (2000), is an irony in itself. It highlights the confused perception of the people about the perfect leadership style for women. As per the study (Kawakami, white  Langer, 2000), the subordinates dislike a women boss exhibiting a masculine leadership style. While, a natural feminine leadership style of nurturing did not receive the respect it deserve. In order to get likeable and respected, the suggestion was to follow the masculine leadership style by a female leader (Kawakami et al, 2001). That means that the people around you did not respect the transformational leadership style, even though it makes the team members perform beyond expectation. As experiment conducted by Kawakami et al., (2001) reinforced the outcome of the study by the authors.

The simple experiment consisted of two female speakers reading out a speech that was having mindful and non-mindful stimuli. The mindful script was designed to express creativity and warmth. Different groups of subjects saw the videotaped scripts and evaluated the performances on a questionnaire. The result indicated that the mindful speakers were perceived as more genuine and better leaders than their mindless counterparts. This experiment by Kawakami et al., (2001) proved that mindful adoption of masculine traits by a female leader makes her an effective leader in the peoples perception (Kawakami et al, 2001).

Thus, a dilemma stares on the face of a women leader. Whether to exercise natural leadership style or become your artificial self by adapting to the learning that is not as comfortable and convincing.  
Another issue, which finds mention across cultures, is the role of perception in stereotyping the expected leadership behavior from genders. The Gender stereotyping had been disadvantageous for the female professional advancement. As the organizations and society are male dominated, women who are outliers in their behavior are marginalized (Bickel, 2004). This confirms the finding by Kawakami et al., (2001), that a women leader with masculine leadership quality is not liked but preferred. On the other hand, women with their natural leadership style do not get the respect.

The Gender bias is another issue that finds its mention across cultures. Whether the society is as advanced as European Society, the biasing against the females in the male dominated culture remains. The finding proves this from the study conducted by Aalberg  Jenssen (2000). This study, conducted in Norway that ranks higher in the gender equality. The result of the study proved that the gender equality is artificial in Norway i.e. pushed by the Government to ensure a level playing field to all. That means that, if left on the perceptions, it would never be a level playing field for females. Another synthesis from the study is that if a country like Norway has to depend on the state intervention to ensure a level playing field than the mere thought of status of third world countries in gender equality sends shivers down the spine.

There are few other connected issues which were identified in the literature review. The lack of mentorship is one of the critical barriers for the women leaders in breaking the glass ceiling (Fried, Francomano, MacDonald, et al, cited in Bickel, 2004). They quote the studies in which it was found that the women were at the receiving end of the disadvantages due to the mentorship. This lacuna also results in failure to establish an effective informal information network for women within the domain they are operating (Bickel, 2004).  Bickel (2004) researched the effects of combination of gender and color on the discrimination suffered by non-white women leaders.  The conclusion was the addition of another dimension of discrimination due to the color. As a solution to such a problem, Bickel (2004) recommends the intervention from the women herself.

Nevertheless, the literature review has also examined the traits exhibited by the women leaders in overcoming the gender bias across cultures. The next section delves into this analysis.

Overcoming Gender bias across cultures
Study conducted by Aalberg  Jenssen (2000), points to the Gender bias experienced by the women in the various occupational arenas. It was concluded by authors that though gender bias exists in the psyche of the common subjects, a constructive intervention by the government of the land resulted in the common ground of competition for the women. This is, in spite of the results from an experiment suggesting that the male politician was trustworthy, knowledgeable and more convincing than his female counterpart (Aalberg  Jenssen, 2000). But, due to the Governments support, the participation of female politician in Norway has increased. This has resulted in motivating the younger generation of women to take up leadership roles in Norwegian politics. Thus, that means that an initial state push is desirable to free the shackles of stereotypes created by the perception of the people for a long time.

Bickel (2004) studied the effects of color on the gender bias. It was found to be extreme. The suggestion was that the women leaders need to take a strong step on their own to overcome such biases. The study cites the case of John Hopkins Department of medicine where such intervention resulted in the benefit (Bickel, 2004).

That means that, though state intervention can control the bias shown towards the women leaders belonging to the same ethnic background, the victims themselves must intervene if the women from different ethnic background are part of the population.

Study by Falk  Kenski (2003) concluded that the type of issues in the mind of people sways the final presidential results in terms of the gender. For example, issues like homeland security, terrorism and Iraq war would make it predictive that a male president would be voted. Though, this was not a generic viewpoint and the gender bias was not a critical input for the educated subjects to vote for the president. Still, it was a sway criterion for the results to go in the favor of either gender. As the study concludes, the issue at hand determines which way the stereotyping would sway. The solution to such situations have been identified as sensing and modulating the outgoing message appropriately in order to meet the electorate demands (Barbara Lee Foundation, 2002 cited in Falk  Kenski, 2003). A case in point here is the experiment done by psychologists Flynn  Anderson (2007), with one group of MBA students. They gave the same case to the students. While, one half of student received the protagonists name sounding feminine while other half received the case with masculine sounding protagonists name. Later, during discussions, the students rated both protagonists as equally competent though they found the character with female version as aggressive and the likeliness of them working with her was dismal (Flynn  Anderson quoted in Hanson, 2007). Thus, that means that this is another implication of the convenient perception and the stereotype straitjacketing of the gender biasing. There are few tips from learning tutorial on leadership on overcoming such gender bias (Women in Leadership, 2009)

Being a women leader, its important to look out for a role model. It would help you to prepare yourself in a pre-emptive manner for the similar situations.

Being realistic very important
Its important to speak and participate in the discussions. People presume that a women would be conservative in mixing with others but professionally, such inhibitions must not come in the way
Getting a mentor is important as it gives you a valuable insight on how things function at the niche above you. As the person would have already been there before you are treading, it helps in negotiating the path to higher powers.

Conclusions
This paper started with a summary of the key findings from the literature review on the subject of Women in Leadership roles and the delicate balance they need to strike while they are going up the ladder.  The issues arising out of the gender bias were examined and the examples of the cases and surveys were taken. Finally, the paper recommended the steps a women leader can take to overcome the stereotype perceptions created by the subjects. This would not only help the women leaders striking the right balance but also provide and ability to manage the perceptions in an effective manner.