Page 16 - ARUBA TODAY

A16
LOCALWednesday 3 January 2018
Opinion Column: Caribbean Female Leadership Needed
By Cdr. Bud Slabbaert
ORANJESTAD - Would fe-
male leadership change
the Caribbean? Most like-
ly it will! It is all about the handful of black billion-
characteristics of how the
members of the male and
female gender have a dif-
ferent way of approach-
ing a task, a challenge, or
stress. Women leaders take
care, whereas men leaders
take charge.
Researchers suggest that
the vital difference might
all come down to one gene
that only men have, called
the SRY gene. According to
scientists it is demonstrated
in the men’s response to
stress with ‘Fight-Or-Flight’,
while women ‘Tend-And-
Befriend’. While men favor
punching or running away,
women are more likely to
try to diffuse a situation and
seek out social support.
Transformational leader-
ship is a prerequisite for
Caribbean development.
Instead of giving you a
definition of ‘transforma-
tional leadership’, I’ll pres-
ent to you a role model of
a Transformation Leader
who just so happens to be
a woman. After reading it,
tell me, whether I need to
say more of what I believe
the Caribbean needs in re-
gard to leadership.
Oprah Winfrey is one of a
aires across the globe and
her net worth estimated at
US$2.5 billion. She defied
the odds stacked against
her in life. Born to unmarried just talk”. She has proven
parents, a miner father and
a mother who worked as a
maid, Oprah’s early years
were filled with abuse,
loneliness, and heartache.
What she was forced to
overcome, became a driv-
ing force for making her
an incredible entrepreneur
and mentor to women and
men around the world. Her
unprecedented success
may serve as the undisput-
ed blueprint for many mi-
nority entrepreneurs.
Winfrey’s leadership has
broken down barriers; her
business instinct is stuff of
legend; and her innova-
tion is unprecedented.
She has spent her entire
career beating the odds
– and has inspired millions
of business-minded minori-
ties in the process. Her en-
trepreneurial mind-set and
willingness to take risks has
paid off by propelling her
forward throughout her
career. Oprah’s leader-
ship style demands that
nothing should be taken
for granted. “I don’t yell
at people, I don’t mistreat
people, I don’t talk down
to people. Treating people
with respect is the most im-
portant thing to me. It’s not Agents of Change’.
that it doesn’t matter from
where you come; what
matters is where you want
to go, how you get yourself
there, and how you treat
people along the way.
She has shown that to be
a successful leader it takes
courage and the ability to
try new things, even in the
face of uncertainty.
Studies are suggesting that
women are better leaders.
Performing twice as well in
order to be thought of as
half as good as male coun-
terparts, is the most preva-
lent reason why women
are perceived to be better
leaders. Often the double
standard demand that
women work harder than
men. Therefore, they get
more things done, deliver
results, and are seen as
better role models to peers
and subordinates. Com-
passion and being more
organized are strengths to
be added to their leader-
ship competence. Women
are also more likely to be
trusted and respected and
they show greater concern
for individual needs. Wom-
en tend to be more nurtur-
ing, caring and sensitive
than men. These charac-
teristics are more aligned
with transformational lead-
ership.
‘Caribbean democratic
development requires
transformational leadership
that values equality, eq-
uity, non-violence, caring,
cooperation, service, trans-
parency and accountabil-
ity, and zero tolerance for
corruption in political and
public life.’ That was one of in Australia have shown
the conclusions of the ‘Ca-
ribbean Regional Colloqui-
um on Women Leaders as
There is a typical Carib-
bean problem with this
Colloquium just like many
high-level summits; lots of
high-level talk, conclusions, employee thereof.
but no action. It’s like let-
ting the pressure of the
kettle and letting the boil-
ing water cool off again.
So, whether this was in last
weeks’ news or a date far-
ther in the past, it doesn’t
matter when nothing is
done. It was actually an
event of 2011, which may
show the amount of prog-
ress made in six years.
Another conclusion was:
“Women with a vision of
social justice, individually
and collectively transform
themselves to use their
power, resources and skills
in non-oppressive, inclusive
structures and processes,
to mobilize others around
a shared agenda of social,
cultural, economic and
political transformation for
equality and the realization
of human rights for all.”
However, at the most senior
levels of leadership in the
Caribbean, men still domi-
nate. Few men in leader-
ship positions may be re-
alizing that the old way of
leading - taking charge
(command and control) -
may not be as effective in
today’s world and in the
future.
Some of you readers may
still be puzzled by the SRY-
gene, exclusive to men,
that was mentioned in
the beginning of this es-
say. Women’s responses
to stress are regulated by
other genes than the SRY.
‘Tend-And-Befriend’ is a
behavior typically exhib-
ited by females in response
to threat. It refers to protec-
tion of offspring (tending)
and seeking out the social
group for mutual defense
(befriending). In evolution-
ary psychology, it is theo-
rized as having evolved
as the typical female re-
sponse to stress, just as the
primary male response was
‘Fight-Or-Flight’.
There are many physiologi-
cal gender differences,
where men differ on aver-
age from women but there
is overlap in the distribu-
tion of the trait. Men have,
on average, much more
testosterone in their body
than women, yet, there are
women whose testosterone
is as high as, or even higher
than men’s testosterone.
Recent studies conducted
that when these high-tes-
tosterone women respond
to stress, particularly stress
caused by men, such as
being held at gunpoint by
a guy in a dark alley, they
show the unique and highly
effective “kick-the-man-in-
the-groin” response.q
*The views, opinions and
positions expressed by the
author do not necessarily
reflect the views, opinions
or positions of The Aruba
today Newspaper, Carib-
bean Speed Printers, or any