Leadership Assignment on Gender Equality: Women Empowerment, Politics & Good Practice
Question
Task:
Analyze the article “Women and politics: a case study of political empowerment of Indian women” by Eliza Sharma and prepare a leadership assignment critically analyzing a contemporary or historical leadership Model in the context of the selected case.
Answer
Introduction:
This leadership assignment report describes the evaluation of transformational leadership theory. I have tried to do a case study analysis through this report which represents transformational leadership theory. In the structure of this report, I have first tried to describe, review and evaluate the leadership theory which is related to gender equality. Then the model of theory has to be highlighted by a practical example. The second part of the report provides a case study analysis based on gender equality, women empowerment in politics. This case study provides a detailed analysis of women's involvement in politics. I have tried to analyze the case study using the transformational theory of leadership. Above all, I have tried to provide an idea of how effective the use of the leadership model is, especially in the case of women empowerment.
Definition of leadership theory:
Transformational leadership theory is a theory that is relatively new and through this theory, leaders tend to bring about positive change in their followers through their valuable suggestions (Donkor and Zhou, 2020). The term was coined in 1978 by political scientist James McGregor Burns. It occurs at a time when leaders and followers promote each other to higher levels of motivation and morality through the involvement of one or more individuals with others. The transformation of leadership eventually becomes moral that it increases the human behaviour level as well as moral aspirations of both the leadership and the leader and consequently has a transformative effect on both (Chen, Ding and Li, 2021).
It has been proven that performance is improved through transformative leadership. It aligns everyone around with a common purpose and it is future-oriented. This leadership theory enables one to find solutions to various problems, to face challenges and to find answers to conjectures. So this leadership is needed across the organization including the board of directors. The theory is considered manipulative or even dangerous because people are threatened by transformations that could overtake their personal power base. It has been found that based on this theory, on average women are satisfied with the work they have done and have seen the effectiveness, as well as the possibility of more endeavour from their people. Women are more trustworthy and more likely to be respected and they show more concern for personal needs. Women are more likely to be caring, nurtured and sensitive than men, and these traits are more closely linked to transformational leadership.
Literature review:
According to the article by (Silva and Mendis, 2017), the results of the study reveal that female leaders are able to demonstrate more transformative leadership qualities than male leaders. Women leaders have achieved higher average values ??for all sub-scales related to transformational leadership, especially for person-centred consideration as well as ideological influence. Ideological influence (behaviour) represents leaders 'ability to communicate values, motives, and importance, and the organization's goals and leadership-oriented thinking qualities that help followers develop, mentor and focus on learning from failure to meet followers' standards. It can be said that it is natural for all these qualities to exist in women leaders because the role of the female gender reflects nurturing, caring, communicating, graceful and considerate behaviour. In addition to transformative leadership, the incidental reward aspect of transactional leadership can provide a moreover congenial connection for showcasing women's leadership skills (Haack, 2022). Through these qualities of leadership, women provide indisputable evidence of the value that women leaders add to the dynamics of organizational development and growth through their skills, which are undoubtedly supported by subordinates as well as organizations as a whole.
Evaluation:
Massive transformation can be noticed through the social dynamics of society. In the current context, the inclusion of women in the workplace has increased significantly (Basu and Mukherjee, 2019). Many questions are being raised as to whether men and women have the same style of leadership. It is generally believed that due to the dominance of a man, women have to face more obstacles than men to become leaders. The female character on the other hand is quite calm, caring, sensitive, patient, sensitive and polite (Wijaya and Riana, 2022). They are able to discharge their duties unselfishly. Some researchers think that men and women have different types of leadership at the same level in the same workplace. However, people want both men and women to be involved in leadership in their workplace. But there is very little evidence that men and women lead together in the same workplace. However, according to various researches, it can be said that gender roles and leadership can never be combined. Transformational leadership is able to spread a broad multidimensional leadership process. In simple words, it describes how an individual leader can bring about a beginning, a development and a meaningful relationship. A leader can bring about the changes needed to improve the organization.
Practical application:
Oprah Winfrey is a famous media director, talk show host, philanthropist, a television producer in the United States, was born in 1954. She gained notoriety for the talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, known as the highest-rated TV show in history, and was organized throughout the nation in Chicago from 1986 to 2011. She is called the "queen of all vehicles". She is regarded as the richest African-American of the twentieth century as well as the first black millionaire in North America and the greatest black socialite in the world. She is a living example of transformational leadership in real life. There are three main lessons to be learned from her leadership: First, a strong leader cannot succeed without the flames of his predecessors. Second, sincerity can have a positive effect on the community, leading to the acquisition of manpower. Ultimately, success is invalid if one does not use the effect to make a difference.
Case study analysis:
The issue of women's empowerment has long been used in politics. Although women have not yet been accorded such high status in some countries, and there are still situations in some countries where they have to fight for the dignity or merit they deserve, the term women empowerment has been used for many years (Sharma, 2019). In India, women's participation in politics has become a trend. In this case study, it has been found that women are applying in large numbers to join politics to prove that women are not lagging behind in any field at present. The analysis shows that half of the world's population is male, half female, but the number of women in the parliaments of all countries is less than one-fourth of the total number of men. India lags far behind in terms of electing women in the country's politics. According to 2019 data, India ranks 149th in the list of elected women members in politics, in the country, and the percentage is only 9. Whether 48% of the Indian population are women (Sarkar and Lakshmana, 2022). Of course, women also have the ability to be political leaders, women are moving forward in all kinds of activities, why stay behind in politics. Women have the ability to lead a team, they can provide leadership, the transformational theory of leadership is also for them. The number of reservations for women in India is very small, of course, it should be increased, otherwise, there will be no gender equality.
From time immemorial, the women of India have proved that they are no less. Only Gandhiji understood that it was possible only through women, so women have been involved in politics since that time. The participation of women in the Dandi march is one of its examples. Indira Gandhi has set a precedent for the influence of women in Indian politics, she used the transformational theory of leadership and gained many followers. Then directly in the panchayat system in 1980 it was decided that there would be 33 per cent women candidates (Rodriguez, 2022). At that time about one million women joined politics. So why is the current situation like this? There are several reasons behind this. An uncertain future in politics, women's security, caste discrimination, family support, etc. can be blamed for this.
Evaluation:
There is a lot of research-based information about women's power in politics which can cause problems in politics. There has been a lot of writing about women's empowerment as well, which is a competitive term (Lari, Al-Ansari and El-Maghraby, 2022). The process of changing this social structure begins with women's empowerment. Different perspectives on this cause controversy which delays this process.
In the meantime, a number of political parameters have been changed to empower women. Politicians and scholars, in general, have mostly pointed to the presence of women as a means of changing people's attitudes. Kassa also thinks Women's interests should be considered and they need equal participation. One of the indicators of women's empowerment can be used as the participation of women in politics. The idea that women can live their lives as they wish and with dignity has led to the empowerment of women around the world and is now appealing to a large number of women to join politics (Hibbs, 2022). They can also lead a group, they also have the ability to influence politics through their own perspectives and to work well with their own followers according to the transformational theory of leadership. In the United Nations Development Program, it is said that a lot of improvements can be made in politics by harnessing the power of women's decision making. The Women and Public Policy Program states that political empowerment is a term that is incomplete without women. The empowerment of women in politics is not a single issue, it is a worldwide issue and everyone should cooperate in it. UNCED's Agenda 21 states that women's intervention is important for the sustainable development of a country and that their decisions are acceptable (Wondimu and Dejene, 2022). The empowerment of women at the national and international levels is equally very important. The nation should understand how important a powerful woman is in the development of politics and economics. Bringing women to power in developing cities is not so easy. Despite the implementation of various amendments, discrimination between men and women has not diminished in politics.
Some steps can be taken to empower women in politics:
Institutional help: If institutions work hard to give the lesson of the importance of women socially, economically and politically, then both men and women will realize how important it is. As well as women, self-esteem will increase and many will come forward.
Family support: Family support is essential. Yet girls at different places of the country are not supported, they can do nothing without the permission of the family. They have to depend on their families in making any decision. In that case, if the family supports, then they can interfere in politics (Chen, Ding and Li, 2022).
Security increment: In India, women no longer participate in politics out of concern for security. If their security is provided with the help of the administration, then maybe many will be able to join.
Above all, the nation must understand that women's intervention is necessary. They have to come forward accordingly. Different rules have to be implemented. In this case, the intervention of the government is essential, new rules have to be introduced, new amendments have to be rationalized, women seats are made mandatory at the political level, the number of women seats should be increased, etc.
Conclusion:
Transformational theory is a theory that deals with women's politics. The transformational theory is a theory where a leader can create followers on his own merits and followers follow him relying on his thinking. The empowerment of women in politics is essential, the ability to differentiate, make quick decisions and, above all, adapt to all situations. If these characteristics of theirs can be utilized at the political level then great improvement in politics at the national and international level is considered possible. What women really need is opportunities, they need to be given a platform, they need to be given opportunities, they need to be made aware that they can too, not just men. The end of gender segregation is happening little by little on all other platforms. At present, it should be the same in politics. Equality is needed everywhere, it is needed in every context.
References:
Sharma, E., 2019. Women and politics: a case study of political empowerment of Indian women | Emerald Insight. [online] Emerald.com. Available at:
Donkor, F. and Zhou, D., 2020. Organisational commitment influences on the relationship between transactional and laissez- faire leadership styles and employee performance in the Ghanaian public service environment. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 30(1), pp.30-36. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francis-Donkor-2/publication/339678741_Organisational_commitment_influences_on_the_relationship_between_transactional_and_laissez-_faire_leadership_styles_and_employee_performance_in_the_Ghanaian_public_service_environment/links/5e5fb9d7a6fdccbeba1a2320/Organisational-commitment-influences-on-the-relationship-between-transactional-and-laissez-faire-leadership-styles-and-employee-performance-in-the-Ghanaian-public-service-environment.pdf
Silva, D.A.C.S. and Mendis, B.A.K.M., 2017. Male vs female leaders: Analysis of transformational, transactional & laissez-faire women leadership styles. European Journal of Business and Management, 9(9), pp.19-26.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kanchana-Mendis/publication/334495020_Male_vs_Female_Leaders_Analysis_of_Transformational_Transactional_Laissez-faire_Women_Leadership_Styles/links/5d2e3167a6fdcc2462e631e3/Male-vs-Female-Leaders-Analysis-of-Transformational-Transactional-Laissez-faire-Women-Leadership-Styles.pdf
Basu, M. and Mukherjee, K., 2019. Transformational Leadership: A Contextual Evaluation Of Gender And Perception. ADHYAYAN: A JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES, 9(01), pp.52-64.
http://smsjournals.com/index.php/Adhyayan/article/download/2086/927
Chen, C., Ding, X. and Li, J., 2021. Transformational Leadership and Employee Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Employee Relations Climate and the Moderating Role of Subordinate Gender. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), p.233. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/233/pdf
Wijaya, I.W.A. and Riana, I.G., 2022. Transformational Leadership, Work Motivation, And Emotional Intelligence To Contract Employee Satisfaction. Leadership assignment International Journal of Social Service and Research, 2(1), pp.19-25. https://ijssr.ridwaninstitute.co.id/index.php/ijssr/article/download/64/111
Haack, K., 2022. Gender Equality and the Development of UN Policy. In Women's Access, Representation and Leadership in the United Nations (pp. 23-71). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83537-8_2
Sarkar, R. and Lakshmana, C.M., 2022. How Far Gender Inequality Suppresses Human Development: Evidence from India. In Regional Development Planning and Practice (pp. 255-275). Springer, Singapore.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raju-Sarkar-3/publication/356288951_How_Far_Gender_Inequality_Suppresses_Human_Development_Evidence_from_
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Hibbs, L., 2022, January. “I could do that!”–The role of a women's non-governmental organisation in increasing women's psychological empowerment and civic participation in Wales. In Women's Studies International Forum (Vol. 90, p. 102557). Pergamon. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539521001205
Wondimu, H. and Dejene, K., 2022. Women and sustainable human development: empowering women in Africa (gender, development and social change) by Maty Konte, and Nyasha Tirivayi, Switzerland AG, Palgrave Macmillan, Springer International Publishing, 2020, 502 pp., $142.53 (hardcover), ISBN 978-3-030-14935-2. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2022.2031531
Rodriguez, Z., 2022. The power of employment: Effects of India’s employment guarantee on women empowerment. World Development, 152, p.105803. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105803
Chen, C., Ding, X. and Li, J., 2022. Transformational Leadership and Employee Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Employee Relations Climate and the Moderating Role of Subordinate Gender. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), p.233. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/233/pdf
Lari, N., Al-Ansari, M. and El-Maghraby, E., 2022. Challenging gender norms: women’s leadership, political authority, and autonomy. Gender in Management: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-06-2021-0159
