Competencies and expectations of a woman leader

Abstract

The main objective of the research presented in this paper was to identify the managerial competencies of a woman leader. The first part of this paper explores the issue of leader competencies as they appear in the management literature. On the basis of the conducted research, the second part attempts to answer the question: which competencies are the most important for the leadership role of women in contemporary organisational reality? Women have the competence potential to be leaders and to be equally as successful as men. In view of the results of the literature review and the conclusions of the survey conducted among the employees of the organisation under research, it was largely possible to confirm the above thesis. Women are able to fulfil themselves in the aforementioned organisation, succeeding in leadership positions with adequate competence and knowledge. However, there are still quite a few barriers they still have to overcome. Introducing an explicit gender equality policy in the organisation would result in increasingly better results. This paper presents the results of research carried out by a company operating throughout Poland. The findings are very interesting and encourage research on a larger scale. They represent a valuable source of information for managers responsible for working with executives, their functioning and the achievement of the set organisational goals. In turn, for those responsible for recruiting managers, the findings may be useful in terms of developing a profile of the manager/team leader, particularly in identifying key soft competencies.