The keynote speaker at a national congress for women in management – organised by the Malta Institute of Management to mark International Women’s Day this Thursday – will be the tireless Kristin Engvig, founder and director of Women’s International Networking (WIN).
... more men are realising that soft power is not the exclusive preserve of women- Helena Dalli
I know many of you will yawn at the sight and sound of women’s this or women’s that, nevertheless, the subject of women’s leadership seems to be attracting the attention of many, especially since the last economic crisis.
Elli von Planta of UBS Bank describes her own experience with WIN as follows: “It’s only in rough times that women really achieved something. So let’s not waste the economic crisis – a crisis that is not over for a long time to come. I was very successful in what I did the last three years at UBS – because you (Kristin Engvig) and WIN prepared me so well”.
She goes on to say that research shows that recognition of women’s leadership is rising in post-recession Europe.
An article titled When Women Are In Charge, written for Project Syndicate (also reproduced in this newspaper) by Joseph S. Nye, Jr, a former US Assistant Secretary of Defence, professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and author of Soft Power (2004) and The Future Of Power (2011) among other books, asks the question: “Would the world be more peaceful if women were in charge?”
Those wanting to score a quick point will say, as Prof. Nye also notes, that Margaret Thatcher is a woman and led her country to war. As did Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi. But one must also factor in the reality that these women rose to power in a world whereby for a woman to “make it” she had to conform to the rules and values of men.
To answer his own question, Prof. Nye refers to the book The Better Angels Of Our Nature, written by cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker.
The author argues for the various ways traditional “feminine” approaches are becoming more relevant to leadership. He points out that the empowerment of women brings to bear a pacifying influence and the world would be more peaceful if more women were at decision-making level. Soft power tools are dialogue and engagement as opposed to the threat of arms and exclusion. Mediation, networking, valuing the building of relationships are the rules of the soft power game.
Surely one cannot ignore the reality of hard power involving the economic and the military. While soft power is about a different line of thinking, involving persuasion and subtlety, hard power uses confrontation, aggression and might to push forward ideas. A mixture of both: the combination of soft and some hard power – where absolutely necessary – produces smart power.
Thus, when we speak of different ways of doing politics, we are also talking about being more inclusive and less confrontational as opposed to the old way. It is a style which the younger generation of politicians is generally opting for and which women have been propounding for years.
I connect this approach to another point which Prof. Nye presents in his article: “... with the information revolution and democratisation demanding more participatory leadership, the ‘feminine style’ is becoming a path to more effective leadership. In order to lead successfully, men will not only have to value this style in their women colleagues but will also have to master the same skills”.
Unless soft power is introduced into the power equation it is unlikely that things will change any time soon. The spreading of ideas, creating allies on all sides, building and enforcing a group’s influence in the most positive manner are of the essence. There will be various discussions this week in the run-up to Women’s Day on Thursday, soft and smart power will be on some agendas. We shall be speaking about the ability to influence and lead through persuasion and attraction; not by coercion but by co-option, diplomacy, engagement and empathy.
What is good is that more men are realising that soft power is not the exclusive preserve of women.
On the local front, it is encouraging to see Labour leader Joseph Muscat adopting a more cooperative, more patient, transformative and developmental stance. Speaking recently, Dr Muscat brought up the issue: “women automatically help to bring balance and responsible leadership in governing bodies. I am proud to say, with conviction, that we will be working toward having the most feminist party”.
It is a fact that, within the disproportionately male political culture, soft power has been sidelined. Focusing on and analysing this issue should help more women and men who recognise this form of power as better in the long run, to assert their values and vision of a diverse way of doing politics.
On Thursday, Ms Engvig will be speaking about women and leadership and how we can create inclusive work environments and be able to connect locally and globally. As Prof. Nye puts it in The Future Of Power: “the ability to affect others through the co-optive means of framing the agenda, persuading and eliciting positive attraction in order to obtain preferred outcomes”.
Dr Dalli is shadow minister for the public sector, government investments and gender equality.