Female leadership in selected co-

ops in BC

Cheryl L

Cheryl Lans & Delia Becker

British Columbia Institute for Cooperative Studies (BCICS)

British Columbia Maritime Resource Co-op

Introduction There is a claim that the leadership qualities

needed in the new millennium are uniquely ‘female’, requiring intuition and creativity.

Leaders are now seen as those who know there is a need for change and can inspire and motivate others to pursue worthy goals and achieve personal fulfillment through cooperative endeavors.

Women leaders can bring different problem solving skills to the workplace and therefore could enhance the prospects of co-operatives, diversify activities, fortify the movement and have perspectives on power that could improve co-operative governance.

Have Women Made it to the Top?

Financial Post 500 companies (FP500)

13 FP500 Heads 3.9% FP500 top earners 6.7% FP500 highest titles 11.2% FP500 board directors 14.0% FP500 corporate officers 33.7% Management occupations 46.1% Canadian labour force

Source: 2003 Catalyst Census of Women Board Directors of Canada

Leadership in co-ops vs. in corporations

89.2% of Fortune 500 companies in the US have at least one female board member. In Canada half (51.4%) of the top 500 companies have no women board members.

68% of Canada's largest co-ops have at least one female board member.

Co-ops in Ontario have 62% of boards with 50% or more women.

Small and medium-sized co-ops (78% have at least one woman)

Housing co-ops (65% have half or more than 50% women)

Childcare co-ops (87% have more than 50% women) (Standberg, 2002).

CCA Survey, 2001 (cont.)

25% of co-ops have no women on their boards. Co-ops in Alberta have 53.9% of boards with

no women (the highest). 60% of agricultural co-ops have no woman

board-member. 40% of production co-ops have no woman

board member. 85% of rural co-ops have at least one woman

on their boards. 61% of urban co-ops have at least one woman

on their boards.

Standberg, Coro. Co-ops demonstrate that community involvement is more than dollars. The Canadian Co-operative Association Newsletter. Autumn 2002. Available: http://www.coopscanada.coop/NewsLetter/CSR/

Men’s and Women’s Leadership Styles

Leadership: The ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals.

In general, women use a democratic leadership style– encourage participation– share power and information– attempt to enhance followers’ self-worth– prefer to lead through inclusion

Men feel more comfortable with a directive command-and-control style– rely on formal authority

Outline This presentation will give

an overview of the research being conducted on female leadership.

Delia will present specific examples of constraints and opportunities in female leadership and women’s participation in BC aquaculture co-operatives.

Delia’s experiences Females dominate in the early

stages of co-op development but are replaced by men once the co-op obtains funding.

Men network informally in order to get their ideas heard.

Men show resentment if challenged on their decisions and are not always willing to discuss problems openly.

Delia’s experiences Female leaders do not always get

support from other women if they take certain positions or approaches.

Barriers were put in place after the female leader’s competence had been demonstrated.

Delia’s experiences Women have spend more time to back

up all their ideas and decisions with hard facts whereas men can just take a position and be supported.

Women are willing to admit a lack of specific knowledge while men may make wrong decisions or become defensive instead of admitting lack of knowledge or inability to use knowledge.

Women are considered intimidating or aggressive if they ask pertinent or hard questions (too truthful).

Delia’s experiences Female leaders cannot show emotion

and have to struggle to maintain their credibility.

Women are not heard (unless they have an older mentor).

Delia’s experiences Women who were nominated to the

Board by a female leader performed all the typically female roles but did not take any decision-making roles.

Hidden agendas

Conclusion

Recommendations Start-up manuals should go beyond the

technical information and include this “fuzzy stuff” so that start-up co-ops can obtain funding to deal with these problems.

Funding should be made available to hire retired Credit Union experts to sit on start-up Boards as the ‘power behind the throne’.

The co-op manual should provide information to female leaders on how to manage their leadership roles and their relationships.

Start-up co-ops should obtain funding to train their staff in management so that when the paid positions do become available the women who started the co-op can fill them from within.