Chapters 1-5

I am a female leader who looks deeply into how my leadership style works. I am trying to discover how the human mind works, and more specifically how the female mind works within leadership. I am discovering how emotion plays into women in leadership, and how to control that. The readings bring up some very good points, about how we are trying to be molded into this male perspective of leadership, and how is that fair if we are still fighting for our own independence and freedom? Women lead differently than men, but how is it any inferior to a man's style of leadership, and why does it seem that we are forced to conform to that style? This country is literally asking for a woman leader in power, but are we truly ready to give her the freedom to lead as she chooses? When a woman is in power, I don't feel that men give her the respect that she deserves right away. From my personal experiences, I feel like we have to earn our trust and leadership role even after we are in it (from men). I manage a music retail store, and I don't get the respect I deserve even though I know more than the guy who is my age about guitars. I think that males that show their "warm as toast" side, get praised for being a hero and sensitive to people, where women are just perceived as weak. I feel the same as the book states, that I already have 2 disadvantages in the workplace, that I don't "look" like a leader because I am not male, and that I am busy with many other things, so employees see that as a weakness in a leader. I love the A's that were come up with in the book: authority, ambition, ability, and authenticity...these are all qualities that women are not perceived to have, but qualities that we strive for. Authority, Ambition, and Ability are all traits that women are still constantly standing up for themselves on, even though we are slowly getting there.