Why women make great leaders?

With countless different approaches to leadership, there's another variable to add to the list: Whether you're a man or woman also helps determine your management style.

Susan Spencer, author of "Briefcase Essentials," says women have a unique approach to leading in the workplace and have 12 natural leadership skills. "Women's skills are different than men's, and when they work together they have a balanced leadership that benefits the entire organization," she says.

How female leadership styles differ from those of their male counterparts, and why it's beneficial to have both types of leaders are very important to all of us.

Leading instead of commanding

Female leaders are more concerned with helping everyone feel like a necessary part of the team than with being the only ones at the helm. Women do not manage by 'command and control' as men do. They direct by embracing teamwork and building hard professional relationships with each member of the team. In a strong financially viable environment that's going through disordered times, this quality can help employees feel more connected to their workplace.

Communicating effectively

Running an organization or department often requires communication skills, something that many women have mastered. Women communicate with employees at all levels of an organization regardless of their pay grade that it contributes to a positive working environment. Having this free pour of conversations also helps maintain employees on the same page and prevents loneliness.

Acknowledging mistakes

Admitting your errors can be difficult for top managers, but it can help subordinates relate to the boss and realize that she is only human. This is another positive attribute. Women leaders are not afraid to declare their mistakes. By being straightforward and approaching about accepting responsibility where it legally belongs, they earn the trust and loyalty of their employees or organization.

Leading with compassion

One of the most important personalities of female employers is their capability to identify with their employee. Especially when a company goes through challenging, leaner times, women may more understand of their subordinates' problems, without simply dismissing them as unproductive employees. They will be highly familiar to the problems of others and can put themselves in their shoes. Using understanding to manage conflict between employees is also a key skill.

Flexibility

Another key characteristic of female leaders is flexibility when making decisions. Men think linearly and women think contextually. This means that women have the ability to consider multiple options to problem-solve and arrive at a broadly analyzed problem.

Contextual thinking results in a more thought-out process when making some company decisions and can direct to innovative solutions.

Even as some companies realize these characteristics, many women still see huge barriers when trying to accomplish the highest positions in their firm and many still cannot land the same key roles as men.

Women still get compartment into high-end administrative tasks. At some companies, women suffer from the typecast of men being natural leaders and must constantly battle this misconception. 

It's not all bad news: In the last 10 years things have changed, especially at the largest companies, where mentoring and other programs are meant to provide a network for women looking to lead organizations.