Women power

BIG BROTHER

Alex F. Patio

"Women in politics tend to be collegial and collaborative, rather than hierarchal"

Fresh eyes and fresh solutions applied to old and abiding problems, unique skills honed through family and community service, the opportunity for a true democracy, transforming business and politics. These are the advantages of the leadership of women. We know that the values women commonly bring to the workplace – empathy and inclusion across lines of authority, relational skills, and community focus – are the tickets to success there. We know that broader societal legislation, benefiting everyone, is more likely to pass if women are elected to office. We know the power of women as peacemakers in a troubled world. And we know the expectations of the next generation – girls expect to lead and breed, boys expect to work and play with their kids. It’s time for real and permanent power sharing – women, side by side with men can and must help run the world.

Women are rarely seen and almost never positioned as leaders by the press, whose coverage of them is usually light in content and volume. Most of the time authorities are picked from a small, elite male pool: members of congress, titans of industry, presidential candidates, and other journalists. This very narrow band delegates the rest of them as watchers rather than doers. When they do get a day in the headlines, their authority tends to be challenged more often, and statements scrutinized more thoroughly than those of men. Authority continues to be concentrated in the hands of men and, as consequence, women remain outside the power elite.

But all of the above are a foregone sayings and passé. We are now in the true senses of the world and there seem a lot of facts, necessities and reasons why women can and must help run the world. We must focus our attention on the enormous untapped potential of women to lead this country and their community, both politically and economically. Women are better communicators and listeners, more nurturing, more willing to involve others in decision making, and more likely to roll up their sleeves and work with the team. I described women as having “a much stronger sense of connectedness to others and of being part of the whole. They are much more gratified by leadership that involves creating a shared purpose, with the leader being part of the whole. And we are very fortunate now because we can see women leaders in the hierarchy of business, profession, and lately in politics which run the affairs of governance. Aside from having two women presidents, several others are into national elective positions down to local level. And Pampanga won’t go wrong in having a lady governor, in the person of Lilia “BABY” Pineda.

A root of learning for women: Mothering. As a leader said, “One of the best training grounds for leadership is motherhood... If you can manage a group of small children, you can manage a group of bureaucrats. It’s almost the same process...” of those who said family was both a crucial support and a source of inspiration, all describe strong parents and grandparents. Grandmother had very definite opinions about people’s responsibility to contributing back to family and back to the community.

Elected female leadership, even the little we’ve had, has made a tremendous difference in politics. Prominent research groups – have spent decades studying the values women bring to that arena, both in how issues are discussed and in the legislation that follows. Women, they discovered, tend to include diverse viewpoints in decision making, have a broader concept of public policy, and offer new solutions. Females also define “women’s issues” more broadly than most of their male colleagues, and they put these issues at the top of the legislative agenda – bills dealing with children, education, and health care, for instance.

Women in politics tend to be collegial and collaborative, rather than hierarchal. Female chairs, for example, used their leadership positions to encourage committee members to talk with one another rather than trying to personally control and direct the debate. They are often more responsive to constituents request, and they follow through them. They also more likely to include disadvantaged groups in legislation.

Women overseas have promoted human rights issues that directly affect lives: Trafficking in women, equality in marriage and parenthood, equal pay, and reproductive choice. But they don’t stop there – they also raise quality-of-life issues affecting everyone, including the protection of natural resources, access to fresh and potable water, nutrition, human rights, and protection for the destitute. But they don’t have to be superwomen. They don’t have to do it all by themselves. They can make alliances, including with men to make them effective.

To those who question whether women would change the nature of political power, or whether political power would change the nature of women, there can be only one answer – let’s try it. Let’s find out.