The Female Brain

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Much has been written about the barriers women experience to realising their potential as leaders in organisations. Usually the barriers are explained either as the result of gender differences in socialisation and/or social roles and expectations, or from a biological perspective involving reproductive differences. So I was fascinated to read the neurohormonal view from Louann Bizendine, a professor of clinical psychiatry, in her books "The Male Brain" and "The Female Brain" (Bantam Press 2010).

One of the profound differences between adult males and females emanates from two emotional systems that work simultaneously:

* The temporal-parietal junction system (TPJ) and
* The mirror-neuron system (MNS)

In males, the TPJ strengthens the ability to cognitively and analytically find a solution, an ability called 'cognitive empathy'. Once a solution is found, the male cortex flashes with excitement: victory! The TPJ keeps a firm boundary between the emotions of 'the self' and 'the other'. The MNS, which governs emotional empathy, activates only fleetingly in men, which causes them to miss emotional cues like tone of voice and facial expressions.

Females use and rely more on the MNS. This strengthens their emotional empathy and enables them to be acutely aware of the emotional responses of others. Females are able to read non-verbal cues for emotional nuances, such as others' facial expressions, minute muscle movements and breathing. They are acutely aware of incongruities between what is said and tone of voice. As a result, females can identify and anticipate feelings in others and quickly develop emotional congruence with other females. The female brain stays in the MNS longer than a male brain, which causes a woman to want and need to spend more time talking about her emotions.

At Vivent'e, we see these neurohormonal differences play out frequently in issues of management and leadership. For example, in our Mentoring Programs for Women, male and female mentors approach their mentoring role very differently. Male mentors are often confused to discover that what women mentees really want is to talk through their challenges and feelings before they arrive at a solution, which is generally their own. Yet this behaviour is perfectly consistent with the 'nature' of the female neurohormonal system.

Does this perspective give you insight into the difference in leadership behaviours described in our previous blog posts, "What do Women in Leadership add?" and "How do Women in Leadership add Sustainability?" Or do you think differences in style between men and women in leadership are better explained by socialization and society's expectations of gender and of social role?

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