A study of the relationship between sex role and leadership effectiveness, flexibility and style in selected managers in business organizations

This study was designed to determine the relationship between sex-role and leadership effectiveness, flexibility and styles in a sample of managers in business organizations. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory, by Bem, was used by managers to categorize themselves into sex-roles, and the Leader Behavior Analysis II Other, by Blanchard, Zigarmi, Forsyth and Hamilton, measured subordinates' perceptions of their leaders' effectiveness, flexibility and styles. Study subjects were 135 managers and their subordinates in high technology, manufacturing, and other private sector settings who participated in leadership training with Blanchard Training and Development, Inc. Data collection was integrated into the normal procedures that managers complete in the course of the leadership training. An organizational audit was conducted to learn about the differences between organizational settings in their openness to the expression of androgyny. The testing of three hypotheses showed that no relationships existed between sex-role and leadership effectiveness, leadership flexibility or leadership style. (The.05 level was set for significance in this study.) It was found that managers who categorized themselves as androgynous, having both masculine and feminine characteristics, were not more effective and flexible than managers who categorized themselves as either masculine or feminine. In addition, there were interesting discrepancies between male managers' self-perceptions and the perceptions of others. It appeared that male managers were more likely to rate themselves as masculine than to be rated as having a high direction style. It may be that male managers silenced self-report of feminine, or supportive attributes, even while they were providing high support. If there is an unspoken prohibition against voicing the feminine, it could impact the way business is conducted, the way people work together, the kind of work they do and the outcome of their efforts.