While talking about women and their position in politics we should fristly

mention what politics is.The word „politics“ derives from the greek word

„polis“ which means city-state.But what qualities needs to have a leader in

order to lead successfully a so called city-state.Certainly there are some

criterias that a leader has to fulfill in order to be a better leader than the

other one.

Skip from Be Excellent™ posted a list of eleven criteria for spotting future leaders, from

Ram Charan’s book Know-How, they are:

1. They consistently deliver ambitious results.

2. They continuously demonstrate growth, adaptability, and learning better and

faster than their excellently performing peers.

3. They seize the opportunity for challenging, bigger assignments, thereby

expanding capability and capacity and improving judgment.

4. They have the ability to think through the business and take leaps of imagination

to grow the business.

5. They are driven to take things to the next level.

6. Their powers of observation are very acute, forming judgments of people by

focusing on their decisions, behaviors, and actions, rather than relying on initial

reactions and gut instincts; they can mentally detect and construct the “DNA” of a

person.

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7. They come to the point succinctly, are clear thinkers, and have the courage to

state a point-of-view even though listeners may react adversely.

8. They ask incisive questions that open minds and incite the imagination.

9. They perceptively judge their own direct reports, have the courage to give them

honest feedback so the direct reports grow; they dig into cause and effect if a

direct report is failing.

10. They know the non-negotiable criteria of the job of heir direct reports and match

the job with the person; of there is a mismatch they deal with it promptly.

11. They are able to spot talent and see the “God’s gift” of other individuals.

Another criteria is communication. “Communication is the real work of leadership,”

says HBS professor Nitin Nohria, who documented the importance of persuasion in his 1992

book Beyond the Hype: Rediscovering the Essence of Management.Nohria believes effective

leaders are masters of the classical elements of rhetoric, as outlined by Aristotle centuries ago.

“You can reach people through logos or logic, by appealing to their sense of what is rational,” he

explains. “You can use pathos, appealing to their emotions, or you can make an argument based

on their sense of values or ethos.” Great leaders, he notes, “spend the bulk of their time

communicating, and they know how to employ all three of Aristotle’s rhetorical elements.”

After mentioning some of the criterias that a leader should posses, we will now see which of

these does a woman fulfill.A woman can keep a government honest which is related with the skill

that woman can give honest feedback and help other people to strengthen their weakness.

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The woman nature is full of complexity you might say, but it is exactly this complexity that might

help a government to reasure before they reach a decission.This means that a woman has the

power of observation and forming the judgement of a person.

Americans believe women have the right stuff to be political leaders. When it comes to

honesty, intelligence and a handful of other character traits they value highly in leaders,

the public rates women superior to men, according to a new nationwide Pew Research

Center Social and Demographic Trends survey.

Nevertheless, a mere 6% of respondents in this survey of 2,250 adults say that, overall,

women make better political leaders than men. About one-in-five (21%) say men make

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the better leaders, while the vast majority — 69% — say men and women make equally

good leaders.

The next most important leadership trait, in the public’s view, is intelligence. Here again,

women outperform men: 38% of respondents say women are smarter than men, while just

14% say men are smarter, and the remainder say there’s no difference between the sexes.

You might say that a womans place is at home and education of the children.As Catherine the

Great would say: ."The most sure, but at the same time the most difficult expedient to mend the

morals of the people, is a perfect system of education."(Catherine the Great 1767, Russia)

But aren’t the children the future of a state.We can relate this with Aristotel’s triangle Ethos,

Pathos, Logos.Instead of these three elements we put: Mother, Child, State.Since everything starts

when a mother gives bearth, her character is a mirror to the child and the child’s character is a

mirror to the future of a state.As a result, the role that a woman plays in educating the future of a

state, tells that she is willing to contribute to this state and so she should have a place at politics to

care about social issues

Another reason why women could be better polititian than men is their self- sacrifice towards

others. Aristotle suggests that a mother’s love is the paradigmatic example of

unconditional love in human life. The self-sacrifice of mothering, therefore,

points toward the possibility that women are capable of a selfless form of

friendship that is akin to or even higher than the “perfect” friendship of two

good men that Aristotle describes.Aristotel believes that full participation in

political deliberation and action, the nobility of moral virtue, and the life of

philosophy can and should be open to (most) women.He relates this with the

abovementioned ethical reasons.

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To summ up with the reasons we will see a list of the most important woman leaders in the

world.On the 31 of October, Dilma Rusefi became the first female president chosen in Brazil.In

honor to the female politician, the newspaper “Kosova Sot“ listed the top ten female politician.

1.Dilma Rusef, president of Brazil.She was the first female to become president in one of southal

states of America.

2.Xhulia Gilard, prime minister of Australia.Just three weeks after starting her job she announced

pre-electiion, hoping she would benefit from her popularity in public opinion.After putting down

the prime minister Kevin Rad on the 24th of June 2010, she became prime minister at the age of

48.

3.Johana Sigurdardotir, prime minister of Iceland.After the economical collapse of Iceland in

October 2008,she became a politician and won 8 elections one after another.Thus, she became the

parlamentarian that was the longest on the parliament and one of the most popular.

4.Kristina Fernandez de Kirshner, presidente e Argjentines.She has shown the real female

character since she has become a president.She has saved Argentina from the stagnation of

agriculture and saved the good relationships with USA.

5.Dalia Gribauskait, president of Lituania.Just when she became the president, she was

considered the Steel Woman of Lituania with her steel words and her black belt at karatee.She

has won 68% of votes- the biggest difference registered in Italy.

6.Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany.She has won a seat at the „Bundestag“ after the general

elections after Germany reunited.

7.Sheik Hasina Uaxhed, prime minister of Bangladesh.A 62 year old leader who has a tragic

history.Her family has been killed in 1975 including her son, three brothers,mother and father.

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8.Ellen Xhonson Sirlif,president of Liberia.She is the first presindent in Africa.

9.Tarja Halonen, president of Finland.She started her carier by connecting with different NGO-s

and sindicates.Since 2000 she has saved the role of president as the chief commander of the

military, and has lead a campaign against Finland to become member of NATO.

10.Laura çinçilla, president of Costa Rika.She won 47% of votes in 2010.She has used her

experince in security to make this state more secure from crime.

As we can see women are using their rights to become part of politics.Women are more

succesfull and they set themselver higher goals.Carol Smith, senior vice president and chief brand

officer for the Elle Group in an interview given to the New York Times says that women are

better list- makers.They will do and prioritize their to – do list.They will get through their to-do

list.Maybe it’s because women do shopping lists.And if they have a problem they will confront

the problem and deal with it head- on

So, women are better politician for they are talkative, communicative, they keep the government

honest, they are creative, compassionate and have the skill of self-sacrifice for the sake of a

nation.These are the characteristics which make woman a better leader than men.It is in the nature

of a men not to possess these character traits eventhough they might possess some other skills but

women still will be better leader than men.And as abovementioned women have had a longer

mandat of political leadership than man have had.From the beginning that they have taken the

government in their hand, they have shown positive results like saving a country from economical

collapse and other social issues.I would like to close this writting with a quotation said by Vince

Lombardi, an american football coach, national symbol of single-minded determination to win

who says:

“Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price

which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.”

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References:

1.Ambler,G.(4th August 2007).Eleven criterias for spotting future leaders.The practice of

leadership.28th May 2011.retrieved from:

http://www.thepracticeofleadership.net/2007/08/04/eleven-criteria-for-spotting-future-leaders/

2.Blagg, D.,Young S.What makes a good leader.Harvard Business School.28 May 2011.retrieved

from: http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2001/february/leader.html

3.Kosova Sot Newspaper(4th November 2010).Dhjetë gratë më të pushtetshme në botë.p.20

4.Krulwich, S.(25 July 2009) No doubts:Women are better Managers.New York Times.28 May

2011.retrieved: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/business/26corner.html

5. Pew Social Trends Staff.(25 August 2008).Men or women: Who’s the better

leader?.Pew Research Center.28 May 2011.retrieved from:

http://pewsocialtrends.org/2008/08/25/men-or-women-whos-the-better-leader/

6.Ward,A.(Winter 2008). Mothering and the Sacrifice of Self: Women and Friendship in

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.Third space.28 May 2011.retieved from:

http://www.thirdspace.ca/journal/article/viewArticle/ward/102

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