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Strength through Kindness: Celebrating the Success of Women Leaders and Feminine Leadership Styles

Danielle Mercer-Prowse (Acadia University, Canada)

Kindness in Management and Organizational Studies

ISBN: 978-1-80262-158-7, eISBN: 978-1-80262-157-0

Publication date: 26 January 2022

Abstract

This chapter presents two stories of inspiring women political leaders, Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minster of New Zealand, and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, to shed light on the dire importance of using feminine leadership models (i.e., embodying kindness, empathy and concern for others) during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as everyday practice. I use a multi-dimensional theoretical conceptualization grounded in gender stereotyping and the theory of androgyny to emphasize the transition from historical masculine leadership ideals (‘think manager, think male’ – Schein & Davidson, 1993) to leadership discourse that symbolizes inclusivity of leadership with an emphasis on using kindness, regardless of whether you identify as a male or female leader.

Keywords

Citation

Mercer-Prowse, D. (2022), "Strength through Kindness: Celebrating the Success of Women Leaders and Feminine Leadership Styles", Thomason, M. (Ed.) Kindness in Management and Organizational Studies (Kindness at Work), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 29-43. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-157-020221003

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022 Danielle Mercer-Prowse. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited