Leadership advice runs rampant on the internet, which is fine because most of it comes from a place of wisdom and reflection. If you're a woman aspiring to lead, however, there is one tiny problem with this spew of "how to" and "Top 10" lists: it's all written for men. Why? Because the predominant leadership stereotypes, and most of the actual leaders, are still men.

As we saw in the previous video about the benefits of feminine leadership characteristics, feminine leadership traits are very desirable and effective. We also learned that the best leaders have balanced leadership styles, combining both feminine and masculine characteristics.

So what is most of this advice to men trying to teach them? Yes! How to lead in a more feminine way (though they don't say that outright.) I discovered this when working with my female executive coaching clients and observing that they were too empathetic, too flexible and too humble. In many cases they were listening to common leadership advice to be this way, except that it wasn't helping them, because it was advice designed for men.

I discovered that the typical leadership advice, intended to correct and temper many masculine instincts--trying to nudge male leaders into a balanced leadership style--was overcorrecting for women and driving them too far back into feminine styles. By becoming too feminine in their leadership style, they were also becoming less effective and losing credibility. The article above is my advice to women on the three most typically feminine leadership styles that, while very important, usually don't need to be emphasized more by female leaders. In these three areas you can usually rely on your natural abilities and instincts and be quite successful!

Get your journal out! Turn this course into a personal reflection journey!