Did you know that Pakistani men have a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurship than their female counterparts? That may not come as a surprise to many Americans, yet the times are changing. Even in those countries that have lagged behind the West in granting female entrepreneurs a healthy measure of respect, women are moving ahead with impressive gains in business acumen.
This does beg the question: Do women do business in an inherently different way than their male entrepreneurial cohorts?
Some theorize women are more vocally oriented than men because women transmit those first communication skills to their babies through facial expressions and nonsensical sounds. Even though their business acumen may be stellar, most women speak more words daily than their male counterparts.
Women also consider the larger picture more often than do male entrepreneurs. A female business professional is more likely to take a team-building approach. Yes, these are all generalizations, but the evidence is still pretty convincing that women do bring a different perspective to business leadership.
The Harvard Business Review blog conducted a survey with over 7,000 business leaders, and results showed that women, as expected, scored higher than men in nurturing and mentoring others. Yet, one fact revealed from the survey may surprise you, because it’s so contrary to commonly held perceptions. The two areas in which men are most often considered more naturally suited than women in business are 1) in taking initiative, and 2) in possessing a strong drive to achieve results. The survey showed that women actually excel in these areas.
To quote bloggers Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, “… at every level, more women were rated by their peers, their bosses, their direct reports, and their other associates as better overall leaders than their male counterparts.”
Does that feminine drive and leadership surprise you?
It tells me that many Americans still operate under a dated notion of how gender issues affect business operations. As it turns out, women are entirely capable of running a business, whether they live in the U.S. or halfway around the world.
Even though Pakistani women may face more cultural barriers to entrepreneurial success than women in the U.S., women in general are capable of excelling in business in much the same way as men. It’s time to recognize that women business owners are a force in the marketplace that should not be underestimated.