by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman
For Harvard Business Review
Photo: Alex and Laila/Getty Images
Summary.
Recently updated research shows that women in leadership positions are perceived as being every bit as effective as men. In an analysis of thousands of 360-degree assessments, women were rated as excelling in taking initiative, acting with resilience, practicing self-development, driving for results, and displaying high integrity and honesty. In fact, they were thought to be more effective in 84% of the competencies that we most frequently measure. Men were rated as being better on two capabilities: “develops strategic perspective” and “technical or professional expertise.” However, a different analysis of the same data showed that when women are asked to assess themselves, they are not as generous in their ratings. In fact, they have lower scores than men on confidence ratings, especially when they’re under 25. At age 40, the confidence ratings merge. Men gain just 8.5 percentile points in confidence from age 25 to their 60+ years. Women, on the other hand, gain 29 percentile points. Women make highly competent leaders, according to those who work most closely with them — and what’s holding them back is not lack of capability but a dearth of opportunity.
