World leaders make the biggest impacting decisions of all leaders, and they overwhelmingly tend to be men. The glass ceiling is an unseen barrier that prevents women from moving upwards into top leadership positions, (Northouse, 2016, p. 399). Even though women make up about half of working people, a mere 18.7% of the seats in the U.S. Congress are held by women, (Northouse, 2016, p. 398), and only 24.5% of the members of parliament around the globe are women, (IPU Parline, 2020, p. 3). The journey to the top has been described as a leadership labyrinth, full of obstacles at every turning point, (Northouse, 2016, p. 399), but some women have mastered the ability to navigate it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is one of those women, and she has become one of the world’s most respected leaders, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 4). She faced challenges associated with all three gender-gap explanations; investments in human capital, gender differences, and prejudice, (Northouse, 2016, p. 399). In her own leadership labyrinth, she faced those challenges, and crushed them with finesse.
Angela Merkel began developing and investing in her own human capital at the age of 17, when she began to further her education, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 29). The pipeline problem, or shortage of qualified women, is less due to a shortage, and more due to a leak in the pipe that women are in, (Northouse, 2016, p. 399). It turns out that there is very little evidence to suggest that women are less educated than men, however, they may have less work experience, (Northouse, 2016, p. 401). Merkel had no lack of education or work history, obtaining a doctorate in quantum chemistry, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 5), then diving into her political career shortly after at the age of 35, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 17). Merkel is able to define herself as a very qualified woman whose education and work not only helped her escape the leaking pipeline that so many women may slip through, but who was made better because of it. Her success, competence, rationality, and reliability have helped her not only hold her position of power and leadership, but helped her become a widely respected person, regardless of her gender, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 35).
There are a number of gender differences that naturally come into play in a woman’s climb to leadership; whether it be their perceived effectiveness, or general gender biases, Angela Merkel maneuvered over this playing field like a master. Combining individualized consideration with great motivation seems to be necessary for women going into leadership positions, (Northouse, 2016, p. 408). Merkel combines these concepts well. She uses individualized consideration in every single obstacle by analyzing each one, waiting for a strategic moment, and then making a deliberate move. This has prompted a new verb in the German language in her honor: “to Merkeln,” (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 32). She combines this with motivation be cause she has always been a completely authentic leader, never changing her strong values and fighting for her country and her people as an analytical and fierce politician, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 8). As for gender biases that create greater social costs for women who self-promote or negotiate, (Northouse, 2016, p. 403), she never gives them a thought. She doesn’t promote herself or talk about herself, rather using her media platform for more political reasons, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 14). She also doesn’t give in to powerful male politicians; she waits patiently until they are done, and then she makes her decisive statement which leads to them realizing they have hugely underestimated her, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 14).
Gender prejudices come from stereotypical expectations. These expectations are based on the idea that “women take care and men take charge,” (Northouse, 2016, p. 404). Angela Merkel would have none of that nonsense. She leads with the concept of looking at possibilities rather than the obstacles, and by doing this she was able to shape situations in a way that allowed her handle them, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 26). She didn’t shy away from decision making, change her stances, or bend herself to other’s expectations of her based on her gender. In doing so she maneuvered around the many traps she encountered and kept her head down, looking only at possibilities, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 19). She never showed vulnerability, only utter self-confidence, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 33), which goes along with the research in that she responded to gender based leadership by going against expected gender behaviors, (Northouse, 2016, p. 406).
Angela Merkel seems to intuitively understand what it takes to close the gender gap in leadership positions. Her investments in her own human capital, understanding of gender differences, and refusal to be treated with prejudice allowed her to rise to the top of the leadership ladder, becoming the leader of the West, (Pazzanese, 2019). The answer to the question, “can women lead?” (Northouse, 2016, p. 397), is a resounding, Yes, they can! Merkle’s personal perspective requires nothing less than believing in impossibilities, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 26), and that includes women leaders. She herself is one of the longest reining female leaders (second only to British Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher). She leads as a feminist by example, and in doing so, perpetuates the notion of competent and confident female leaders by choosing her would-be successor for 2021 as being Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer: a woman, (Pazzanese, 2019, pp. 49-50). Leadership roles have begun to lean in a more androgynous direction, (Northouse, 2016, p. 408), which aligns with Merkel’s belief that competence, skill, and wherewithal, regardless of who you are, should be what sets you ahead of others, (Pazzanese, 2019, p. 50).
References
IPU Parline. (2020, June). Global and regional averages of women in national parliaments. Retrieved from IPU Parline: Global Data on National Parliaments: https://data.ipu.org/women-averages?month=6&year=2020&op=Show+averages&form_build_id=form-PEJwDcT5k6zxgBTv8I_7gLR-xOlrCwG0vYVZLENhtxo&form_id=ipu__women_averages_filter_form
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pazzanese, C. (2019, May 28). Angela Merkel, the scientist who became a world leader. Retrieved from The Harvard Gazette: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/05/those-who-have-known-angela-merkel-describe-her-rise-to-prominence/
Kristen Gabrielle Ramirez says
Hello Lyne,
I really enjoyed your blog on women leadership, and its focus on Angela Merkel. The last sentence, “Leadership roles have begun to lean in a more androgynous direction, which aligns with Merkel’s belief that competence, skill, and wherewithal, regardless of who you are, should be what sets you ahead of others”, really resonated with me. “Women earn 57% of the bachelor’s degrees, 60% of the master’s degrees, and more than half of the doctoral degrees (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011)”; which demonstrates than women are capable, motivated, and competent to be leaders, and are actively investing in their human capital. A new generation, of Merkel-like girls, are growing and educating themselves. Luckily, they have role models like Angela Merkel, “Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan), Margaret Thatcher (UK), Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway), and Indira Gandhi (India), and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil” (Northouse, L. 15 pg.397, 2016)), to name a few. A more profound and long-term thinking is being set forth that competent leaders need not be men, but women as well.
Merkel has proved effective leadership and shut down negative beliefs that women are unfit to lead. A recent Eagly meta-analysis, based on research, stated the following: a woman must “take risks-but not be consistently outstanding, be tough-but not macho, be ambitious-but know they will not receive equal treatment, and take responsibility-but follow others’ advice” (PSU, Lesson 13: Leadership and diversity, 2020, p. 2). Merkel blatantly decided to challenge the impositions society imposed on her by focusing her energy in rationality and order. I particularly like she decided to be authentic, strong and forward-thinking.
I admire women like Angela Merkel, and their accomplishments. There is a saying that “behind every great man, stands a great woman”. I wonder if the same is the case for Merkel. Although, “Some women choose not to marry or have children, others choose to become “superwomen” and attempt to excel in every role, and others take leaves of absence, take sick days, or choose part-time employment to juggle these work–home conflicts (Hewlett, 2002; Nieva & Gutek, 1981)”, I became curious to know who her partner is. No doubt, an amazing man, and a lucky one. Women can have it all, but we must understand that equality is an educational journey we must teach not only our girls, but especially our boys.
References
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Pennsylvania State World Campus. Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity. 2020.
Daysi Luther says
Hi Lyne,
For such a remarkable leader, I’m surprised to have never heard of Chancellor Angela Merkel. It was really fascinating to learn about her, since she’s a great example of a woman who was able to navigate the leadership labyrinth and be a successful leader.
I like how you pointed out that prejudices play a role in the issue of the lack of female leaders. This made me think about the prejudice that I experienced over my gender when I had the chance to lead others. Many people who were supposed to be under me viewed me as a pushover because I’m soft-spoken and was thought to be too focused on people’s feelings over completing tasks. This is a common perception of female leaders, that women lead in a more interpersonally oriented and less task-oriented manner than men, and even though this has been proven to be untrue, it’s still a persistent idea (Northouse, 2015, pg. 407). When I first heard that people thought I wouldn’t be a good fit for the leadership role because I’d likely be too interpersonal and not mission-oriented, I felt that it was an unfair assessment by my subordinates because I hadn’t even started leading and that was already being determined about my leadership style simply because they perceive women to lead in that way. The guys felt that they needed to be led by another guy, not a girl. Truthfully, I wasn’t too concerned about people’s feelings because it had nothing to do with the job. I was only there to guide people as we completed daily tasks, and I was chosen to lead by leaders because I had seniority over the other members. However, after hearing those biases, I forfeited the position as team leader and went back to focusing on my personal ambitions outside of my job. This is the issue with biases, they tend to be limiting to women when they’re offered an opportunity to show that they can lead. The biases tend to overshadow the potential. Dealing with prejudices, along with the expectation to take care of domestic duties can be extremely overwhelming. This can lead women to not even want to lead, like it was in my case.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with Merkel, who persisted even when faced with conflicts regarding her gender. Hopefully with Merkel’s influence, leadership roles will truly lean in an androgynous direction and allow for various leadership methods to be utilized in the situation that require them (Northouse, 2015, pg. 415). With leaders like Merkel, I’m hopeful that I’ll see the gender gap close within my lifetime.
References
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice 8th Edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing. Retrieved June 4, 2020