Feminine Leadership

The strength and skills of women are yet to be tapped for the new dimension of leadership they can offer the business world, observes Loden, a management consultant. New, more cooperative management styles, sparked with intuitive and empathic approaches to problem-solving, await the recognition and acceptance that have been slow to come in the male-dominated workplace. Working in what amounts to an ""alien culture,'' women have already begun to make changes even as they have consciously imitated the male model for success, according to the author. Purely biological differences and thinking patterns reveal that women handle stress well and seek consensus rather than control, practices that smooth corporate decision-making and improve creativity. Their ultimate contributions, Loden predicts in this evenhanded assessment, may be to humanize the business world for both men and women. November