Global/Diversity in Leadership

1. How do race, ethnicity, and gender of a leader influence the exercise of leadership?
Leadership studies focusing on race–ethnicity provide particularly rich contexts to illuminate the human condition as it pertains to leadership. Yet insights about the leadership experience of people of color from context-rich research within education, communications and black studies remain marginal in the field. Our framework integrates these, categorizing reviewed studies according to the effects of race–ethnicity on perceptions of leadership, the effects of race–ethnicity on leadership enactments, and actors’ approach to the social reality of race–ethnicity.

2. Distinguish between paternalistic and maternalistic styles of leadership; what cultural factors would have to be in place for one or the other styles to work effectively?

Maternalistic leadership can be compared to Paternalistic leadership but instead of the male father figure leader, maternalistic leadership is when a woman is the boss guiding the direction of the organization with an emphasis on benevolence expressed through nurturance with a moral emphasis on care and well being of the organization’s followers. Paternalistic Leadership can be more of a dominant authoritarian leader that plays the role of a patriarch and treat organization members as partners or members of a big family. They require loyalty, trust, and obedience which can be a little different than earning it like in a maternalistic style.
Women are generally naturally maternalistic which can be applied to this leadership style. If you were to ask “What makes a successful leader and what makes a successful parent you will find there are a lot of similarities.”

The way a paternalistic leader works is by acting as a parental figure by taking care of their subordinates as a parent would. In this style of leadership the leader supplies complete concern for their followers or workers. In return they receive the complete trust and loyalty of their people.