The Leadership Spectrum There is a masculine and feminine way in which each leadership trait manifests itself. According to Skyline’s research, both men and women agreed that there is a significant and recognizable gender continuum on 27 of the 28 competencies. Here’s an example. Listening is typically seen as a female skill, but it actually has a masculine and feminine expression. The masculine expression is listening for content and clarity. In other words, when men listen, they understand what people are telling them and can summarize the speaker’s main points. The feminine expression is listening for emotional context and connection. Women tend to listen to and sympathize with the emotions behind what someone is saying. They console, support, or show another emotional reaction to the speaker. While masculine and feminine expressions of leadership qualities are different, one isn’t necessarily better than the other—rather both are essential to effective leadership. In fact, our survey participants rated more than 70 percent of leadership competencies, both masculine and feminine expressions, as equally effective. So if masculine and feminine expressions are equally effective, why are women who adopt masculine behaviors viewed negatively? And why are those who only express feminine behaviors seen as weak? It all comes down to context. The perception of leadership effectiveness depends on who you are working with and the needs of the situation. To be an effective leader, you need to adapt your behaviors based on your audience, your approach, and your gender simultaneously. This requires leaders to be more balanced and to be able to develop and use both the masculine and feminine expressions of a competency, depending on what is needed, instead of relying on one default set of behaviors