Have times really changed? Research shows that people who talk more are chosen as leaders

Photograph of a small red pyramid on a table. Beside it, you can see papers and pens.

Furthermore, the majority remain men.

Are times really changing?

It seems like things are changing. That's what we think, at least. However, the change in some aspects is not yet concrete.

A survey carried out by American scientists showed that more talkative people and men continue to be the most chosen as leaders in small groups.

In fact, according to the data obtained by the research, the quality of these people's speech does not really matter. They just talk more.

That's right. Whoever talks the most tends to be chosen as leader. It doesn't matter about personality or any other skill other than speaking.

On the other hand, another aspect means that, among speakers, men are more often chosen as leaders in small groups. In other words, gender is still extremely relevant.

How was the research carried out?

The research involved more than 30 groups with four to ten university students. The area where the research was carried out was simulation games, with business or military themes.

Furthermore, participants were given ten minutes to plan a task and one hour to complete it.

And finally, each student was asked to nominate one to five individuals who they felt emerged as a leader, both during the planning phase and afterwards.

Those who spoke the most were named leaders.

In general, students who spoke the most were chosen as leaders, regardless of status, knowledge in the field, cognitive ability or any other personality trait.

Normally, in our common sense, we consider leaders to be those who have a minimum of knowledge and lead through the content acquired in a certain role or area.

That's not really what the research showed. That is, leaders were chosen as leaders just because they talked more than others.

Gender still matters, a lot!

If we thought times were changing, we thought we were wrong! Even though we see more women in leadership roles, of course, as well as racialized people, the research shows that the hole is somewhat deeper.

In other words, men continue to be appointed as leaders regardless of their level of knowledge or any other skill. Gender is still very relevant.

See, the survey asked participants to choose their leaders even before carrying out the activity.

So what can we conclude from this? That in our sociocultural aspect, inside or outside economic and other activities, men are still seen as the basis of leadership.

The research purely reflects our reality!

Among the reports made available to governments and leaders participating in the World Economic Forum, the Global Report on Gender Inequalities shows that only 58% of the gap in Economic Participation and Opportunities has been closed so far.

This means it is expected to take another 267.6 years for the gap to be completely closed.

Still in the same report, it is known that women represent only 27% of all management positions, and global income disparities are still only partially on the way to being resolved.

Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that in some countries, such as Brazil, gender considerations go hand in hand with the invisible work of care.

According to the IBGE, by the year 2022, women would dedicate an average of almost 7 hours more than men to household chores and caring for people.

Although there has been a decrease in the care of children aged 0 to 14, there has been an increase in the care of adolescents and the elderly at home.

This care work, which is not measured in value, is measured in contribution to society as a whole. Even if it is not visible, it is women who cement the base for the job market, or allow men to reach the top, most of the time.

What can we conclude from all this?

In the case of leadership, in terms of people who are more talkative - regardless of gender - we can say that groups or teams have in their leaders those who play an active role in debates.

Of course, we have a long way to deconstruct this. Mainly because those who talk too much don't always really listen.

Here in LongVision, we believe more in the power of active listening than active speaking when it comes to management and leadership positions. A leader needs the team as much as the team needs the leader.

Therefore, listening and building trust between everyone is much more valuable than having just one person who speaks more for everyone, standing out individually.

Remembering that results are always collective in any organization.

The same goes for debates. Even though it is important for someone to lead in the highest position, debates must involve everyone's participation if we want to arrive at the best solutions.

This is all about diversity. And here, we enter the issue of gender, too. Diversity adds. The more diverse a team, the greater the chances of innovation and excellent results.

So, if times haven't changed yet, it's time to change! May future research show us completely different results.

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