LEVERAGING GENDER

INTELLIGENCE LEADERSHIP©

IN THE SEARCH FOR

ENTREPRENEURIAL TALENT

It’s Out There but You Have to Know Where to Look and You

Have to Know What You Are Looking For

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AUTHORS

Dr. Pauline T. Crawford CEO Corporate Heart Ltd UK

President World Association of Visioneers & Entreprenologists (WAVE)

&

Dr. James A. Omps President, International University of Entreprenology USA

April 1, 2015

All materials are copyrighted© and are the intellectual property of the authors. This material has

been authorized for use by Corporate Heart Ltd UK, the World Association of Visioneers &

Entreprenologists (WAVE) USA, and the International University of Entreprenology (IUE). Any use or

publication of this document, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the authors

or their authorized representatives, is prohibited by law. Brief quotes taken from this text are

permissible only if the authors and/or copyright holder is correctly cited as the source.

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FOREWARD

As the global workplace continues to develop and adapt to a sweepingly new business culture, where

men and women work side-by-side, the importance of understanding and applying gender

intelligence to this evolving process is not only desirable but, in the vast majority of cases, absolutely

mandatory. By making gender intelligence an integral part of the process, it is possible to create a

balanced unbiased work environment where a positive view of natural gender performance will

emerge and allow a new perspective on talent to come to the surface, recognised by men and

women alike.

Business needs new talent now; players who have more self-confidence in their performance, greater

managerial leverage in any situation and enhanced potential to lead successfully whether in an all-

male, all-female or mixed environment. Leaders, managers and team players need to neutralize

gender roadblocks and eliminate preconceived biases that exist regarding working effectively with

the opposite sex. Business today - and in the foreseeable future - requires people to open up to new

possibilities regarding ways to build successful workplace models that address the needs of both

male and female workers. Finally business needs to guarantee that every player - men and women

alike - gains greater clarity, direction and purpose, thereby ensuring unbiased, inclusive and

pragmatic decisions that are real-world focused.

Understanding a gender intelligent approach means we can empower both women and men to value

how females bring their unique outlook, talents and leadership skills to middle - and increasingly - to

top management. These unique talents are now more noticeable than ever as more women impact

the nature of work itself by moving it in a more feminine direction which influences men’s behaviour

too. The style is more of a relationship and service focused approach, and is now recognized as a

style that can be utilised effectively by male leaders as well. How, then, do we understand this trend

and use it to identify rising talent in the current workplace to suit the changing nature of work? As

the numbers change, it is also observed that the different classifications of men and women are

impacting the nature of how we interact with each other at work and at home. The dynamic of

feminine versus masculine traits and talents in both men and women – when it comes under the

microscope as task combined with relationship management - can indicate the difference between

success and failure.

Markets are changing too. Today the consumer is most likely female. As business continues to evolve

rapidly, more and more women are starting and managing their own enterprises and, very often,

guiding them in new ways with a new vision. Different generations see the world of work in different

ways and inter-generation gender differences create different views about what talent is needed in

the workplace. New technology and global social media are also underscoring the major shift that is

occurring. Feminine leadership, which is rapidly emerging as a preferred leadership style employed

by both men and women, is being heralded by many as the most effective type of leadership if

sustainable success is the goal. The workplace talent can, therefore, be understood better through a

gender intelligent lens.

Gender intelligence shapes a dynamically new perspective on the gender game as it is no longer just

about men versus women. It is about a sweepingly new way to do business that embraces life, family,

and community. It encompasses new technology, generational shifts, transient market dominance

and versatile lifestyles.

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RETHINKING BUSINESS TO FIND AND RETAIN NEW TALENT

As global commerce continues to develop and adapt to a sweepingly new business culture where

men and women work side-by-side, the importance of understanding and applying gender

intelligence to this evolving process is not only desirable but, in the vast majority of cases, absolutely

mandatory. By making gender intelligence an integral part of the process, it is possible to create a

balanced unbiased work environment where a positive view of natural gender talent and

performance (or what we observe as the output of talent) will emerge and allow a new perspective

on individual talent - factoring in gender differentials - to come to the surface. While chairmen of top

corporations here in Malaysia, in Asia and across the world, continue to ask “where is the female

talent for executive management? … and beyond: translation: the boardroom”, they might do well

to look at the untapped resources comprised of highly educated women graduating from university.

They can be found climbing the career ladder in myriad companies and corporations or opting out to

create their own enterprises shaped by their closely held feminine principles as they move

unstoppably toward success. The way forward is to look creatively and innovatively at commerce,

business strategy and potential talent resources through a new lens.

Looking Through the New Gender Intelligence Lens

Business today - and in the near and distant future - requires people to open up to new possibilities

and many unknowns. To build successful workplace models we need to look at current trends and

also, as Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise used to say – “Boldly go where

no man has gone before!” Translation for my purposes in this paper: explore bold new ideas,

implement sweeping changes, imagine new worlds and civilisations and - YES - do what has never

been done before! Rather than continuing to take such great pride in the fact that we are doing

things right, now might be the right time to actually think about doing the right things.

For the most part, we have access to the resources we need and we have access to all of the talent

we need. Statistics prove that the current pool of suitable potential employees is laden with skills

and talents never before available in the quantities we now see. It is obvious that the current talent

pool of employable men and women has changed dimensions not just in size but in character as

well. Sadly – and on a global basis – virtually all cultures appear to have an enormous blind spot with

regard to seeing the obvious. Large and growing industries and corporations in the United States,

the United Kingdom, Australia, European and Asian countries continue chanting the mantra of the

prevailing corporate culture – “We simply cannot find the talent needed to fill upper and executive

management’s potential vacancies … what are we to do?” Well, for starters, they might want to

ponder the fact that approximately 50% (and this percentage is growing with each convocation held

in the world’s most prestigious and popular colleges and universities) of the employable and

unemployed work force consists of women!

Apart from observing and applauding any new models for conducting business over the last decade

or two, we must start to address the rising numbers of women in business and the rapidly changing

needs of both male and female workers to include male and female consumers. We need to factor in

the diverse qualities and talents of men and women across the world in terms of how they impact

commerce, consumer power and lifestyle demands. The world is changing quickly with women

creating a growing influence on a world that needs to embrace or, at the very least, implement a

growing sensitivity toward providing for their needs.

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Many men in the top echelons of business wonder where the untapped potential is – look no

further. Women bring a whole range of new talents that are not only desirable but necessary for

commercial success today. This paper proposes the need for a new understanding of a Gender

Intelligence Leadership© approach to finding and appropriately placing talent – an approach that

empowers both women and men to value how women add their unique outlook, talents and

leadership skills to middle and increasingly to top management. We need to recognise that to adapt

to such an intelligence requires a new or – at the very least – a highly modified framework. The

implementation of a Gender Intelligence Leadership© based approach to business created using a

solid Gender Dynamics© framework can and will help us identify and define desirable and necessary

intrinsic capacities and behaviours in the rising talent needed for organizational success.

Business Needs a New Perspective On Talent

Businesses can benefit from a new perspective on talented players; those men and women who

display self-confidence in their performance, know how to create greater managerial leverage in any

situation, and develop enhanced potential to be leaders who will lead successfully whether in an all-

male, all-female or mixed environment. Leaders, managers and team players need to neutralize

gender roadblocks and eliminate preconceived biases that exist regarding working effectively with

the opposite sex. As we recognise the changes inherent with the factors now mentioned, the

development of rising talent needs to be seen through a new lens, a much broader, yet balanced,

gender lens and ensure that gender awareness is a major influence on modified or completely new

workplace cultures. There is no end of talent but we may be making the mistake of looking at it as an

end result as opposed to the seeds of growth.

Demographics Are Shifting Leadership Styles Dramatically

As the numbers of working women change, it is also observed that the different types of men and

women are impacting the nature of how we recognise new leadership methodologies and their

capacity to influence the work culture. The dynamic of feminine versus masculine traits and

talents in both men and women comes under the microscope as tasks versus relationships

management actually determines the difference between success and failure. It is now more

noticeable that the growing number of women in the workplace is impacting the nature of work

in that it is becoming more feminine. This has an impact on both genders and shifts the

foundation upon which past business cultures have been built. This shift impacts men’s

behavioural response too. This feminine style, if you will, is more relationship and service

oriented and is now recognized as a highly effective business model that can easily be utilized

effectively by male leaders. It has been quantifiably recorded as a more sustainable and

profitable model in today’s rapidly evolving marketplaces.

This new model of business has been studied extensively by McKinseys1 through a ten year study

titled “Women Matter” and in many research studies such as the, Ketchum Leadership

1 http://www.ketchum.com/leadership-communication-monitor-2014

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Communication Monitor2. The latter took a sample of 6000 men and women across 13 countries

and found strong evidence that women have influenced a style of leadership where the following

attributes are leading the way; transparency, collaboration, genuine dialogue, clear values,

aligned words and deeds. No longer can leaders afford to sit in their ivory towers directing the

game of commerce from afar. This leadership style is being used by both genders and has

effectively proved, over a decade, to return greater and more sustainable profits and long term

growth.

Changing Times, Changing Talents

This style of feminine leadership implies a different set of talents and natural skills may be at work

than previously those that were popular in the older models which included a macho approach to

leadership, status consciousness, and the hierarchical structure common to most commercial

enterprises/corporations. It is a style not always welcomed by all macho men, or some of the

stronger women who have made their way to the top via the more hard-nosed masculine style. The

discussion presented here, however, is set to include both masculine and feminine attributes and

therefore natural gender intelligent talents to be utilized by wise corporations who see the

advantages of men and women working separately and together at all levels. Within each gender, it

is observed through this study of Gender Dynamics© that not all men are the same and neither are

all women the same, even though the fundamental differentials between genders remains. We have

built an unbiased framework to map out several variables within each gender and between genders.

The need to regard gender in this more complex manner has reared its head due to the changing

numbers of women in middle management work levels, involved either in corporations or growing

entrepreneurial enterprises. Over the past two or three decades more and more women have

entered the workplace; women have established their own businesses, online and in the

conventional marketplace.

Beyond all of this, women’s demands as consumers has transformed the nature of commerce,

economies, services and products. Other major factors of change i.e. technology and entrepreneurial

SME growth, have altered the landscape forever. The talent pool is continually growing with more

than 60 % of graduates now being female. It is also know that women, on average, leave college

with a higher level degree than their male counterparts. These women are focused, strategically

sophisticated and keen to make their way … to earn their wealth and their seat on the board. This

female oriented tsunami is on a fast-track as it approaches the boardroom with no indication as to

what it might leave in its wake.

The Challenges of a Fast Paced World

Our challenge is to evaluate and understand these new elements – women at work, women in

entrepreneurial business, SME growth, fast paced technology evolution and the feminine working

style. These things test even the most entrenched, predominately male, traditionally structured

organisations as women breach the walls of the corporate world. The world is changing faster than

we can teach skills that will allow us keep pace with that change. The players involved in the games

2 http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/organization/latest_thinking/women_matter

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of business and life itself have reached a degree of parity in that they are equally representative as

men and women. They play in the traditional corporate world, moving into emerging markets and

into entrepreneurial enterprise free of any perceived restriction of generations. One online

foundation has been developed by a ten-year boy from South Africa talking about how young talent

will create a new world without the need for our revered and tradition oriented institution of higher

learning. They will not concern themselves overly with doing things right as much as with doing the

right things. Change is constant and the nature of these new players is to keep pace with that change

and they are already aware that our world is like an anchor, so they will simple cut the anchor away.

They are looking at the future through a new lens while we continue to wear the same lenses that

we have looked through for decades.

Influences in the Marketplace Can Obscure Talent

Many influences in the marketplace obscure the very talent we so badly need. Both business and the

competitors change and market demands also change as trends shatter the traditional business

archetypes too. Today, business leaders are beginning to seek talents and abilities that currently

remain just outside the somewhat arbitrary norms set by the top companies that reigned over

commerce over half a century ago. As new and different business needs arise due to changing and

constantly fluctuating markets and consumer demands, such needs cannot easily be satisfied

without a fundamental restructuring of the playing field. Women are becoming the biggest natural

untapped talent resource on the planet yet all too often corporate leaders fail to see the resources

resident within this sector of the work force. If and/or as we change the landscape and the nature of

the gender debate it is important first to discuss the current status of women with regard to gender

talent availability. If we fail to understand the temperament of what is happening for women and

men as changing numbers influence this debate, it may be impossible to qualify and quantify the

untapped talent resource.

The Tenuous Status of “Women in the Workplace” vs. the Unpredictable Nature of

“Men in the Workplace”

When discussing any views on the current status of women be it equality issues pertaining to

women, empowering women, or finding natural talent among women, our first observation is that

this must include all of the same elements that are used for men but in the context of changes that

have come about for women over last few decade or two. It looks like a circular discussion and may

well be, but that being said, women are intrinsically talented in areas such as complex

communication, tangential thinking and multi-tasking. These talents, which are commonly inherent

in women, have been discounted or completely ignored in far too many instances being largely

deemed irrelevant by those responsible for creating the HR agenda regarding the search for talented

employees. We need, therefore, to understand that in considering the implementation of a gender

intelligence approach to seeking and employing individuals with certain skills and talents, we must

seriously seek out and evaluate candidates from the perspective that viability is not limited to one

gender or the other. In brief, what I am telling you is, our gender lens, per se, must be inclusive of

both men as well as women. It is NOT exclusive about the females of a given population.

In this context, gender refers equally to the men and women of any populace but must include a

new vantage point with regard to women when exploring talent. This important point is pivotal as,

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generally speaking, there has been and remains a huge challenge with regard to a conscious or an

unconscious bias that is clearly ingrained in many corporations and government institutions built by

men and maintaining an exclusively male perspective. Many top men still view the gender agenda as

being solely about ushering women into their domain. There is a viewpoint in this male-friendly

environment that appears to hold that needed talents are seldom found in female candidates when

in fact the evidence clearly indicates that there is simply a bias - and again let me state that it may be

conscious or unconscious - that creates a blind spot causing talents in women to be overlooked and

in many instances disregarded.

It should come as no surprise, then, that there is a need to recognize and eliminate gender bias in all

its forms, as we seek a broader view on the wider potential that different genders bring to the table.

If the goal is to transform mind-sets, find new and exciting latent talent, and kick-start new ways to

create business success far from the prevailing norm, it is imperative that we truly examine the

scope of talents required for business today while discarding the outmoded belief that it is, in fact,

possible to accurately “judge a book by its cover.” If the goal is to open commerce to all potential

entrants and discover latent and/or innovative talent, we need to begin with the absolute essentials

of intrinsic gender-specific talents attributable to men and women. Once we determine there is a

new scale for talent evaluation available - and both commerce and the markets need these talents -

then it is mandatory that we embrace what women and men are innately capable of providing,

integrating this new knowledge into a corporation’s leadership and business strategy.

‘Intelligent Gender Debate’ Confused With ‘Discussing Women’s Issues’

With regard to women and their innate talents being complementary with those of men, we need to

widen the scope and address what is needed to suit the economic and social trends and needs of the

day. To empower women on a global basis is an imperative that impacts - and will continue to

impact - both genders, the marketplace and commerce in general.

It is important to emphasize once more, at this point, that virtually every time the word gender is

used in the title of a program, a conference, an organization, a paper or a general discussion

currently, it is perceived as referring to an issue almost exclusively focused on women’s issues.

According to the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary, the word is defined thusly: gender -

noun gen·der \ˈjen-dər\ : the state of being male or female. There is absolutely nothing in that word

that should lead one to believe that putting it before another word would necessarily indicate that

the topic refers solely to women, and yet it appears to be interpreted in that way far too often. The

simple fact of the matter is, the word gender refers to men as well as women. Any discussion

involving gender could and perhaps should also consider gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals

when we introduce a topic led by such a simple and commonly used word.

Why, then, do we automatically bias our perception of gender to refer almost exclusively to women?

There is nothing more important nor is there anything more rudimentary than this fact: global

commerce mandates inter-gender contact. Inherent in this statement is the need for a far more

significant shift in mind-set by men and women in understanding all parties and the changing nature

of business - especially in the SME arena - where enterprise and entrepreneurship often bring a 360°

view into place with regards to all parties, male and female alike, as essential to growth and

sustainable transformation of economies and social communities. The world is changing not merely

due to the fact that women are becoming an increasingly more important part of the picture for a

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wide variety of reasons. We need to recognize that the very substance of business markets, locally

and globally, is evolving rapidly. In short … inter-gender collaboration, talent and empowerment go

hand in hand.

Blocking the Rise of Female Talent by Invoking Outdated Rules and Regulations

According to the latest data available, the global population is almost evenly split - approximately

50% men and 50% women accurate to within 3% to 5% - across the world and in most countries. Of

greater interest is the fact that an increasing number of women are entering global commerce

constantly as college graduates, experienced employees or, more often than not these days, as the

owner/operators of start-up enterprises. We submit that the time to quibble over long debated and

divisive issues is over. We must discontinue 1) Defining what women should be doing with their time

and with their lives, 2) Creating policy (rules/conditions) governing how women should approach

and manage a career, an education, domestic choices, public service, etc., and 3) Either voluntarily

or through the implementation of quotas, do anything and everything necessary to achieve the goal

of a realistic gender balance that every thinking person – man or woman – knows would generate

the positive change that we would all like to see.

Every hierarchy - from business to education to government - that may appear top-heavy with male

leaders should not necessarily be made a target simply to change the male/female percentages that

exist. There is no panacea for the problem and common sense dictates that there may often be a

need for further in-depth discussions on a case-by-case basis. Seldom do across-the-board solutions

fix anything for any length of time. There can be no doubt that, in many instances, the attempt is

made to try the problem in the media where charges are made and rebuttals are offered without

much substance entering into the fray. Women wanting to rise to prominence through their own

talents do often need advocacy from senior men and/or senior women, and are hampered by the

traditional male structure of work. If we are wishing to open up talent pools that have been

heretofore untapped, it would be wise to lift the ‘fishing restrictions’ and think of a new approach.

Men Advocating for Women Not Out of Courtesy but from Accepting the

Importance of the Female Dynamic

Support and encouragement of the innate female talent for leadership, for team building, for

creativity and innovation, should involve positive confirmation and conversations in an atmosphere

of mutual respect. This can more easily be achieved by stimulating a much improved understanding

of gender issues paying particular emphasis on such things as gender bias or restricted views held if

nominal biases are harboured by both men and women in the workplace.

It is a widely considered opinion that there is a need to stress that many issues grouped under the

gender banner relate to both men and women, and that the empowerment of women cannot be

achieved without a consensus that men and women are now indelibly partnering each other in

business, in society and in their life journeys.

Biases referenced earlier have long outlived any perceived usefulness. It is time to put all false

perceptions aside, and to rid ourselves of the bias that takes form when we hear and/or see certain

trigger words that prompt it. It is time to realize and to admit what someone once said a few years

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back; “The problem is not that we don’t understand … the problem is … we don’t understand that

we DON’T understand.”

True and achievable gender equality has failed to gain much traction on many issues – equal pay,

equal opportunity, lifestyle, wealth, harassment or discrimination – because gender sameness has

been the focus over the last 6 decades. Quite simply, men and women are not the same, biologically,

socially, emotionally or with regard to lifestyle functions or goals. Men and women play different

roles, have different functions in society, and have different life paths whether as a single or in a

relationship. They normally have different values, goals and aspirations, and can see even the same

things from many different perspectives. It is apparent that we all cling tenaciously to our own

closely held views of what gender is all about. Across the world today, women are gaining ground

and making serious inroads into changing the existing landscape. The trends are noticeable and

measurable but not dramatic enough to place greater numbers of women in the upper echelons of

education, business and politics – at least not in sufficient numbers to come closer to the percentage

of qualified leaders that their total numbers would indicate and/or indeed mandate.

A focus on a new blueprint may be a viable option, i.e. expand current parameters to embrace the

freedom for women to be at work, work a flex-schedule, run their own businesses or aim for loftier

position in the corporate world if that is what they want. Those options are severely impeded by the

current male-dominated business model that the world adopted more than two centuries ago.

While business and enterprise growth was originally established and has been maintained via this

model, a sweepingly new structure is needed. We should no longer settle for the status quo simply

because it has been in place for so long. With technology advances and the online mobility available

to growing numbers of men and women, it would seem the future could emerge with a very

different landscape.

Now is time for corporations to be focused on the empowerment of women and true gender

equality to review and redefine how women, with and through the understanding and support of

the opposite gender, build a mutually beneficial and all-inclusive common-sense approach to

promoting, creating and maintaining full gender equality at work and at home. It is not women or

men who need to change so much as the playing field upon which commerce has continued to play

the game over the past 200 years. There is a need for a systemic change that not only allows for all

gender inclusion but one that actually welcomes them instead. There is room for everyone with a

desire to get into the game. There is room for all to transform their dreams into reality. If women

and men can embrace the idea that they are complementary to each other and the success of their

business rather than competitors … if they can see themselves more as partners in business and life,

dedicated to jointly building the new business blueprint … this is the way forward. Women are

talented and want to work with men to create a new mind-set that removes bias, forges appropriate

and effective inter-gender communications and creates mutual value. By being keenly aware of the

unique characteristics of each other, corporate professionals and entrepreneurial owners of small

and medium enterprises everywhere - men and women alike – can create a new energy in all

enterprises and empower both genders to deliver the best output of their talents.

Talents Can and Do Vary by Gender Nature – Creating a New Perspective

The range of females available vary from the more logical, rational, process minded, thinking,

masculine-minded female, (we code them MF), through to the more intuitive, verbally dexterous,

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feeling, feminine female, (coded as FF). All have female qualities of sensitivity, intuition, emotional

intelligence, multi-tasking, collaboration and nurturing. Some of these ‘talents’ may be deemed not

to be talents in a traditional mind-set but alongside today needed more than ever to complement

our natural borne skills such as being artistic, linguistic, scientific, numerical, administrative,

persuasive, musical, mechanical or philanthropic, these gender based talents are required in today’s

search for talent at work.

Men also have a varied nature that has opened up the intuitive, emotionally intelligent, and verbally

dexterous male, the feminine minded man (coded as FM) and the traditional masculine man, logical,

rational, process thinker, (coded as MM). All men have natural strengths commonly identified as

male talents such as compartmentalization, task focused, solution driven risk taker. In the war on

talent, the wise corporation will change the parameters, widen the requirements based on female

players and notice the growing numbers of talented female graduates advancing to complement

their male counterparts. The Gender Dynamics© framework reveals how MM. FM, MF and FF natural

position underpins talents, communication and leadership capability.

Talents Can Vary by Mindset – Entrepreneurial or Corporate

An entrepreneurial mind-set might be the next most sought-after-talent for corporate advancement

and many women have a lively multi-layered entrepreneurial mind-set and talent. Entrepreneurs

have demonstrated the success potential of applied non-traditional talents simply by the telling of

their stories. These risk oriented and highly talented individuals have often been avoided by

corporations, perhaps because less talented corporate leaders fear not being able to control the

‘rebel’ in their midst! Today, however, the entrepreneurial spirit is more attractive as change causes

chaos and a disruptive creative and innovative skill set suddenly looks quite desirable!

There is no doubt that the playing field has shifted somewhat but we have failed to replant the new

sod. As a consequence, we continue to play on ‘the good old boy’s turf’ hoping the game will

somehow be different even as we continue to play by the same rules. Along with technology driving

our daily existence, business - both corporate and entrepreneurial - has become a very fruitful

ground for women. The dawn of the women wealth creators is coming and increasingly because

she wants to create her own destiny.

An entreprenologist, a higher level thinker who wants to grow a big business rather than be a solo

entrepreneur or small business owner, seeks to turn his/her vision (dream) into reality. Examples

include people like an Oprah Winfrey, a Steve Jobs, a Bill Gates, a Sir Richard Branson, a Tony

Fernandes or an Elizabeth Holmes. The fact is that men and women like this gain notable fame and

success because they were willing to accept the mandated risks of manifesting their dream … their

vision. Is it their talents alone that made this possible? We know they had the requisite talents and it

is obvious they had passion, an idea, a vision, and values that ignited their determination to

overcome the many obstacles they faced, obstacles such as, in many instances, the deep and

frequent failures that beset them along the way. How do we observe talent emerging in

corporations where such talents are often overlooked and/or openly suppressed? With a far wider

lens than any we may have ever used before. A lens, perhaps, that can identify and value different

attributes … those capable of driving the appropriate outcomes desired while minimizing the

restrictive nature of outdated parameters. The proposition here is that talent can be far more

diverse than in the past as rapid and unscheduled change occurs to impact a business and the men

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and women that bring this entrepreneurial talent to work in varying ways. These change-driven

forces impact business and challenge our view of talent which, when freely expressed, is seen in the

success stories quoted above. Talent is everywhere. It is energy, ideas and unteachable innate

attributes. It is variable and exciting, and may well be found in creative people who may not want to

be harnessed or developed within the rigid and sometimes arbitrarily positioned boundaries and

restrictions imposed by conventional corporations.

Identifying and Developing Talent by Means of a Gender Intelligence Lens

The development of talent cannot be rote. Indeed you cannot teach ‘talent’. If, however, this lens

can facilitate the search for talent, then the development of that potential resource needs to be

fluid, flexible, and future focused while being delivered real-time and real-world. And as talent stems

from a natural resource within, the development of a talented person must draw on their passion

and perhaps of greater importance, it must be fun! We need to move away from outmoded

thinking, let go of the past, and we need to - as noted sociologist and futurist Alvin Toffler once said -

develop the ability “learn, unlearn and learn again.” We must craft new lenses that men and

women of all generations and backgrounds can look through to see enable talent to emerge

naturally. If organizations are to keep pace with the change that is coming at us faster and faster,

they need see things differently in order to prevail. It is worth noting, at this point, that identified,

encouraged and developed talent will create a return for the organization’s market, products and

services. If a talented individual aspires to go their own way at a given time, after the relationship

with their organization has borne fruit, the true nature and value of that talent has been realized.

Observing With New Eyes

The path to developing talent starts with new eyes observing and taking note that not just the

participants are changing but so is the game, the map and the territory. In order to navigate this new

grouping to find the talent we want to develop organizationally, we need to regard three factors; 1)

the individuals by gender (and therefore their natural male/masculine and female/feminine

attributes and talents), 2) the generation (and thereby their expectations and values), and finally 3)

the desired need for talent within organization with regard to outcomes. Talented individuals are

smart, bright, passionate and alert people and, if not acquired by an organization, they may well

create their own enterprise success or even create a new industry e.g. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

created an entirely new industry. This new territory is unpredictable and the climate for commerce

in such a territory is equally unpredictable. The economic conditions and the needs of individuals

now change almost daily. Even the most highly skilled economic trend forecasters cannot accurately

keep up with such a pace.

The Talent Pool

Looking at potential talent using gender intelligence alternatives created on the Gender Dynamics©

framework can give organizations a head-start with regard to finding, recruiting and ultimately

developing future stars. There is a new range of talents in the marketplace when one considers the

female talent that has, for far too long, been overlooked. This is not just about individual talent for

creative ideas and innovation but the full spectrum of talents that organizations need such as those

deemed ‘soft skills’ – e.g. emotional intelligence, managing people, personal power, empowering

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communication, collaborative leadership and natural inspiration so often lacking in leadership and

management. Women are now establishing clear leads in these qualities – let’s call them talents –

and there is new evidence over the last decade that “feminine leadership” makes a positive

difference in growth and sustaining bottom line results. There is a direct correlation as well to

employee satisfaction, creative/innovative output and quality results for companies. The evidence

now shows us that this leadership style encompasses natural talent that some men are choosing to

embrace in order to enjoy the benefits that lead mixed-work communities - men and women at all

levels - to value the nature of this leadership style.

This leadership talent, in particular, embodies un-teachable skills … and only these innate skills make

it possible. We cannot learn to be emotional. We are emotional human beings from birth. It is the

very nature of business that, for over a century, has controlled those baseline talents that women

bring to the table. By adopting and implementing a new Gender Dynamics©/Gender Intelligence

Leadership© perspective, we can create a territory where natural talents can be more easily noticed

and can be encouraged to flourish. We have the ability and the tools to develop a gender intelligent

criteria and development plan to ensure this talent can thrive for men and women alike.

Matching Talents Using the Gender Dynamics© Framework

Matching talent to desired outcomes is critical with regard to the gender-specific and cross-gender

talents found in a mixed gender human resource pool. For example, if emotional intelligence is a

natural talent of women make it a business specific talent for females to use with the understanding

that it is neither greater nor less than decision making talents and skills which may be a more

pronounced in male candidates. Each gender can learn the other ‘skill’ to add to their natural talent

base.

There are three major areas with regard to the matching process: 1) matching talent with position

i.e. talent for leadership, 2) matching talent with results i.e. encouraging both male and female

creators and innovators to be empowered to be outspoken and, 3) matching talent with the

unknown risk-takers – the futurists, the ‘crazy ones’ - those who’s talent that may seem a little too

unconventional at first glance. Steve Jobs once said, “Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the

rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things

differently. They're not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify

them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things ... they push the

human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the

ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Perhaps just a little ‘crazy’ is what is needed at times … to discern talent that can be mistaken as a

personality trait. Where organisations are looking for creativity and innovation, crazy may be useful!

Maybe the notion of regarding talent as variable in some cases - depending on gender - is as

different as women are from men but then perhaps it is not as far-fetched as one might imagine.

If what is required is diverging from the ‘established norm’ when it comes to thinking and acting,

then that may be the path we need to take. It would certainly be - at this particular point in time -

the “path less travelled. There is always an inherent risk when one breaks from tradition but as

millions of successful business men and women are fond of saying … great reward often mandates

great risk

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