Learn these lessons in feminine leadership: Kindness, competency, compassion
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MIAMI – Leading like a woman requires leaders to have vision, compassion and intention while maintaining their expertise and competence in conjunction with kindness and empathy, according to a presenter at Scrubs and Heels Summit.
“Before, female leadership wasn’t thought to be important, but this is our time,” Marla Dubinsky, MD, chief of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition and co-director of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Clinical Center, Icahn School of Medicine, said during her presentation. “There’s this switch that we are experiencing where men need to learn lessons on how to be leaders through these constructs of female leadership.”
Dubinsky defined feminine leadership as thinking about the person as a whole, with empathy and emotional intelligence at the top of the pyramid, followed by long-term vision, vulnerability and viewing leadership in a horizontal rather than vertical construct.
Egos need to come secondary, she said: “Women are leading too much with ego to match this masculine leadership. That’s where we fall. It’s ok to be vulnerable and have this empathetic approach. ... A feminine leader recognizes there is power in deconstructing what powerful means.”
While empathy and vulnerability used to be considered a weakness, today’s changing times allow for women – and men – to lead with those characteristics while demonstrating resilience and decisiveness.
“I try to lead by being empathetic but accountable. Accountability and empathy, you can’t go wrong with that sort of balance,” Dubinsky said. “You can be kind but accountable; kind but competent. It doesn’t have to be separated.”
Dubinsky also had some lessons for the men in the audience and in positions of leadership:
- Don’t lean in when you’ve got nothing to lean in about.
- Know your limitations.
- Motivate through transformation.
- Put your people ahead of yourself.
- Focus on elevating others.
- Don’t say you’re humbled, be humble.
To the women, she said, “Stop seeking approval. You don’t have to seek approval. Be confident in who you are and what you bring to the table.”
With that confidence, she said, comes the need to be intentional.
“Be intentional about what you're doing. ... I am intentional even down to the pair of shoes and the wardrobe that I wear when I present myself in public,” Dubinsky said. “Be intentional in how you speak. It isn’t scripted, but be intentional. If you are a strong woman and you’re very passionate, continue to be passionate and be that strong woman. You do not have to change. This is who you are.”
She defined the key elements of leadership as:
- Create and communicate a vision.
- Develop a strategic plan.
- Motivate and create buy in to that vision.
- Recruit, build trust and inspire a team that achieves their vision.
- Leaders are mentors who help others learn and grow.
“If you take these with you as a leader, you will continue to empower others and really be a role model to others,” she said.
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Dubinsky M. Lead like a woman. Presented at: Scrubs and Heels Summit 2022; March 25-27, 2022; Miami.
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