Anything Men Can Do, Women Do Better

“Whether or not women are as effective and strategic as men is not the question,” Ayman said. “It’s the interpretation of women’s behavior that’s affecting everything.”

Ayman said men too often assume women are not interested in leadership roles and would rather be caregivers at home. Only when women display masculine features are they considered equal to men, Ayman said.

“Women don’t get included, don’t get considered, because no one has an image of them in high leadership roles,” she said. “All around the world, the people in the highest levels of an organization are most often men. These men’s vision of a person to replace them or fill up a similar gap is a person that looks like them, acts like them. If they do choose a woman, it’s too often in a position where she’s destined to fail.”

Ayman painted Barack Obama’s presidential win in 2008 in a similar light.

“Nobody could have saved the country from the mess we were in, but society gave the first black president a chance — a chance in the worst condition with not a lot of support. Too often male leaders do this with women. They say, ‘You want to be a leader? Here you go, it’s all yours, I’m gone.’ Without encouragement, anybody will fail.”

Ladan Nikravan is an associate editor of Chief Learning Officer magazine. She can be reached at lnikravan@CLOmedia.com.