Women Rising in Corporate Ranks

Screen 14 of 23

Generally, women delegate more readily and express their appreciation for hard work more often. "Women ask questions, men tend to give answers," says author, consultant and career coach Terri Levine. By communicating company goals more readily and expressing appreciation more often, women tend to be better at making staffers feel valued and rewarded. That translates into cost-effective recruiting and being able to operate with stable, loyal employees or, as Christian puts it, the best talent.

But no drop off in "hard skills"

Besides generally being credited with better communications and relationship skills, women are lately demonstrating higher levels of traditional "hard" or "male" skills as well. Some investigators suggest that many women workers had such skills all along, but that male bosses either overlooked or misperceived them. Others think that the cumulative years of experience for women are broadening their skills.

One influential study in 1996, conducted by management consultant Advanced Teamware (which has since merged with Consulting Tools), analyzed a database of 360-degree assessments for more than 6,000 managers. Such assessments include anonymous reviews from a manager's peers, supervisors and subordinates. The study by Michael R. Perrault and Janet K. Irwin looked at a range of managerial behavior, including problem solving, controlling, leading, managing self, managing relationships and communicating.

The results: