The perception of leadership competence by female and male leaders

Previous research consistently indicates that the social image of a successful manager shows a higher correlation to characteristics of a typical man than to those of a typical woman. In the present study, 177 German executives were queried regarding their perception of person- or task-oriented leadership competence in others or themselves. They showed a gender-stereotypical view of leadership competence generally ascribing task orientation more seldom to women than to executives in general, and person orientation especially to female executives. At the same time, they showed a more androgyneous view of leadership in which the importance of person- or task-oriented leadership competence did not differ for men and women. Male and female participants described themselves as similarly competent with respect to both types of leadership characteristics. In comparison to male executives, female executives emphasized the importance of person-oriented characteristics for themselves.