Do Women Make Better Leaders?
By Jaqueline Lapa Sussman
Woman Magazine - December 1993

Do women make better leaders than men? Are their leadership styles different and, if so, how? Psychological researchers, sociologists, feminists, politicians and academicians have heatedly debated this question for the past 40 years. In a recent psychological experiment, which was published in the Journal of Mental Imagery, Connecticut men and women helped answer these questions. Conducted by Dr. Akhter Ahsen, internationally known for his imagery research, this experiment uncovered startling gender differences in how men and women approach basic life situations.

The experiment was designed to study how individuals respond to being controlled, a phenomenon that affects us every day at school, at work, in church, and when interacting with anyone who is in a position of power over us. The participants were asked to wave their hands over an ordinary object such as an eraser. While they were doing this simple task, the experimenter began repeating the following commands in varying sequences of three minutes each: "Do not grab it", “Grab it", "Grab it”-- Don't grab it," -- "Do not grab it -- Do not think of your childhood."

Whether or not the participants complied with the command was noted, along with the deeper thoughts, feelings, impulses and images they reported. For many, the experience of being given orders and told not to think of their childhoods brought forward mental states of their responses to being controlled, as well as lucid childhood images.

Men viewed the situation of being commanded by an authority figure as competitive. They played the game, noticing who was one up and who was one down. Women did not care about competition, but rather about truth. They expressed concern about whether there was something "real" and of value in undergoing the experiment.They wanted to know if they were being hypnotized or if this experiment would produce worthwhile results.

Also, men accepted without question the rules set by the ''authority''. Women often questioned the rules and wondered if a rule was good or bad. If they felt a rule was bad, they disregarded the instructions for the experiment. During moments of stress, women cried, and in doing so, found renewed strength so that they could continue with the experiment. In contrast, men held their emotions in rigidly, which made them feel as if they could break.The experiment corroborates the fact that men have been raised to be in control, to hide vulnerable feelings and to compete. This socialization prepares them to inherit the positions of authority that await them in society. Women are raised to express feelings more and be concerned with truth, but expression of these traits does not automatically lead to positions of authority in our society. When we relate this experiment to the question of who makes a better leader in our modern, complex and problem ridden world, we need to think about the ways in which men and women operate in the world. Do we want leaders who accept the rules already in place, or not? Do we want leaders who are concerned with truth, or do we want those who compete and play to win regardless of the truth? Do we want leaders who naturally break the existing status quo of dysfunctional situations, or do we want those who keep the status quo whatever the costs? Do we value leaders who have the humanly to cry, or do we admire leaders who become rigid and on the edge of breaking? This research clearly reveals that women offer fresh perspectives to old global dilemmas. Women are emerging as leaders with a different vision from men and a new style of leadership. The historic male contribution of domination, competition and control needs a new infusion of potential from women.

This clear and powerful experiment elicited the participant's mental states through special images called "eidetics." These eidetic images are stored in the brain and offer experiential information about how we have been socialized and about our intrinsic potentials.

Here is an eidetic image exercise for you to experience how you were influenced by your first gender role models -- your mother and father. Can you tell which one you felt more controlled by? Which one had a more positive influence on your ability to lead?

The Road Test

Relax and see this image either with your eyes open or closed. Allow the images to progress on their own, just like they do in a movie.

The aim of this test is to cross a road in your mind to reach a shop on the opposite side. As you follow the instructions notice the images that you experience as a result.

1. Think of the front of a shop that you often go to. Consider the picture that comes before your mind's eye. See the overall appearance of the shop from the opposite side of the road.

2. Picture in your mind that you are crossing the road in order to go over to the shop on the other side. Describe how you cross the road, what images you see, and what happens until you reach the shop on the other side of the road.

3. Think of your mother. Keep your mother in mind and see the image of yourself crossing the road again. Describe how you cross the road and what happens until you reach the shop on the other side of the road.

4. Think of your father. Now keep your father in mind and see the image of yourself crossing the road again. Describe how you cross the road and what happens until you reach the shop on the other side of the road.