Welcome to The New Era of Leadership

The key to successful leadership lies in being human. That's what Unilver's CEO Paul Polman deeply believes in. You wouldn't really expect that to be the most important attribute for one of the world's most influential leaders and especially for a male executive, considering how the general perception of a great leader is the domineering, command-and-control and know-it-all male.

But with the increasing requirement for full transparency, interconnectivity and a values-led approach, it seems that there's something missing in today's prevailing leadership style.

A "female" touch.

According to the third annual Ketchum Leadership Communication Monitor (KLCM) there's very little overall confidence in current leadership.

The survey synthesises the views of more than 6,500 people in 13 countries across five continents regarding effective leadership, effective communication and the intrinsic link between the two.

Just as last year, in 2014 we continue to observe a global leadership crisis with people being disappointed with leaders, which is in turn strongly reflected in their consumer behaviour and so affects the bottom line of business.

You can see more about the survey results in the video and infographic below. I am, however, going to focus on one key finding that I find striking (in a positive way):

Women are more effective leaders than men.

Don't believe me? Consider this: only 29% of people believe business leaders show effective leadership. 95,2% of Fortune 1000 CEO positions are held by men. Is that a coincidence?

Still don't believe me? Let's dig deeper.

According to 74% of the KLCM participants effective communication is the top attribute to great leadership. Open, transparent communication and personal presence are therefore absolutely critical to effective leadership. However, only 29% feel that leaders are good communicators.

This negative correlation between expectations and actual delivery has a profound impact on business with the majority of people boycotting or buying less because of poor leadership.

What's even more alarming is that this trend seems to be increasing and more people are less optimistic about seeing any improvement in leadership over the next years.

These results clearly indicate the increasing need for a new leadership style, a more "feminine" leadership communication model.

And there's serious ground behind this statement.

For the first time this year, the KLCM examined the link between gender and leadership. The participants' responses show that female leaders are outperforming their male counterparts on almost every key attribute deemed most important for effective leadership by the public.

Here are the 14 qualities that make an effective leader:

Leading by example
Communicating in an open and transparent way
Admitting mistakes
Bringing out the best in others
Handling controversial issues or crises calmly and confidently
Making tough decisions
Aligning what they say with what they do
Providing a clear overall, long-term vision
Showing respect for different cultures
Ability to work with different personalities
Showing respect for the organisation's history and culture
Taking active steps to ensure diversity in their organisation
Telling a compelling story about their organisation
Using inspirational rhetoric

Examining how well both genders perform on these attributes, women top 10 out of the 14 qualities. They ranked significantly higher at leading by example (63 percent vs. 37 percent), communicating in an open and transparent way (62 percent vs. 38 percent), admitting mistakes (61 percent vs. 39 percent) and bringing out the best in others (58 percent vs. 42 percent); men, on the other hand, for handling controversial issues or crises calmly and confidently (52 percent vs. 48 percent) and making tough decisions (57 percent vs. 43 percent).

This world view of effective leadership doesn't imply that we only need females as leaders (even though it would be great to have more women in power in the future), it prompts that there are critical lessons for both genders to learn that will simply allow both male and female leaders be better at their job.

Still, 54% expect men as the gender to navigate us through the challenges of the next five years. However, to do so men might have to work a little harder as they are required to acquire a different, rather "feminine" skill set based on more empathy, humility, collaboration and personal connectivity.

What does this all mean?

Well, the "macho", ego-centric, aggressive style of leadership is over. Women no longer have to try and act as men.

As a recent piece in the Guardian notes, the 'left brain' that deals with logical and analytical thinking should make way for the 'right brain' as emotional intelligence gains importance for effective leadership. Only so will leaders be able to successfully reach the hearts and minds of the ever more sophisticated, socially-savvy and demanding consumer.

Barri Rafferty, Ketchum senior partner and CEO for North America, put it best:

“Our study clearly shows that to inspire trust, leaders of both genders need to avoid a ‘macho,’ command-and-control approach to leadership communication, which tends to be one-way, domineering and even arrogant. Instead, we are seeing the birth of a new model of leadership communication based on transparency, collaboration, genuine dialogue, clear values and the alignment of words and deeds, a model being followed far more consistently by female leaders. This research finally puts to rest the flawed assumption that women need to act like old school male leaders to make their mark.”

Sadly though, this reality seems to be far away...