Inclusive Leadership: Negotiating Gendered Spaces

Abstract

Research in the field of leadership is constantly evolving with new approaches and applications in business studies. Implicit in traditional definitions of leadership in Western literature is a white, male leader, exercising power over others. More recent representations of leadership challenge this gendered, leader-centric approach and recognise followers as critical to the process of leadership, and the importance of inclusivity. Inclusive leadership embraces fairness and respect towards a diverse range of talent irrespective of stereotyping; it focuses on values and belonging and places emphasis on high performance through confidence and inspiration. Leaders and followers co-exist socially in the process of leadership, and the influence of followership cannot be underestimated in order to understand the full extent of leadership. The presence of women in leadership roles has increased in the recent past, yet women are under-represented in leadership positions in comparison to their male counterparts. Women have often been devalued in a leadership context, tainted with a stigmatised status of low power characterised by stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. Furthermore, the association of women with communal characteristics and men with agentic characteristics are pervasive in the maintenance of the gender stereotypes that women take care and men take charge.