According to the United States Census Bureau (2003), women now hold half of the managerial jobs in the United States and they continue to make advancements in this area. What leadership challenges might be unique to women in management or executive positions? Should Executive Coaches take the gender of the trainee into consideration? Why or why not? Do you agree with viewpoints listed below or what different perspective can you share?

While there has been little to no direct research on the role gender plays in executive coaching, there are distinct differences between men and women (Ting & Scisco, 2006). There have been studies completed on the brain that suggests that men and women may process information differently. The brain itself has a different composition of the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for movement, language, perceptions, etc. Another difference is who stress is handled between men and women. Under stress, women may have a natural tendency that exceeds fight-or-flight by want to tend to children or gather with friends instead. In engaging in the tend-or-friend mindset, oxytocin is released, which provides a calming effect. However, with men, testosterone is produced at high levels when under stress, which does not present the same calming effect.

Another consideration is that realities for men and women differ in leadership roles (O’Neil et al., 2015). Concerns for women in leadership are challenging organizational contexts, work-life integration, and life and career stages. Organizational contexts are in the form of gender bias that may be difficult to identify. Societal norms, assumptions, and structures play a role in the lack of women representation in leadership. While there has been significant improvement, only 14.6% of women advance to the executive level of the Fortune 500 executive officers positions held in 2013 (O’Neil et al., 2015). Women also shave a more difficult time with the balance of work and personal life. Because there is a demand for a separation of work and life for women while having the primary responsibility for managing the home, the issue of work-life balance will always be a concern. Lastly, the changes in a woman’s life-stage make it challenging. The stages that women go through starting from wanting to have it, coming to the realization that it is very difficult to have it all, and focusing on having meaningful contributions to their jobs, families, and communities.

I believe that as an executive coach that you have to take into consideration gender. Taking gender into consideration is not forming assumptions but understanding that your approach may be different. How you communicate, engage, or build connections may be different from that of a man. In addition, how men coach women will also be different. Paying close attention to body language, posture, conversation type will ensure that boundaries are not crossed. Men have to be intentional on the message they are relaying to ensure that it is not received incorrectly.