How much work should a leader do? How much should they help or influence their teams?
Whenever you become a founder, chief, or boss, you have no choice but to also endorse the role of the leader. Being a leader is the most challenging privilege you will ever be given: cursed with your incredible vision, you will have to lead your team through your journey like Ulysses led his crew during The Odyssey.
One difference between you and your subordinates: you chose to be a leader, but they certainly didn’t choose you. Their jobs and well-being lie within your hand. You have the power to change things for the better, so avoid creating hell above ground level.
When handling power, men have proved to often be blinded with greed. Despite the many wonderful things accomplished by past and present leaders, only an ignorant eye would shut on the wars, inequalities, and tensions started by ill-advised men.
So, are women better at being heads of state? No one knows, as it hasn’t occurred very often. However, from an entrepreneurial point of view, even though the gap between the founders gender gap is still huge, women entrepreneurs are changing the face of leadership for ever.
Their example, as shown by the study carried out by The CTO Club, is improving the world. Employees who are part of companies founded by women have proven to being happier with their work/life balance, company diversity, and salary compensation, as well as staying in their roles longer.
Victory by K.O
The CTO Club carried out the study, which analysed 20 of the fastest-growing technology companies from around the world with female and male founders. Looking at Glassdoor.com, scores were given by employees on each category of company culture, diversity, work/life balance, compensation and career progression. Data on the median average tenure of employees was gathered from Linkedin.com.
According to the data, compared with male-founded companies, female-founded tech companies report higher employee satisfaction for diversity and inclusion (4.1 vs 3.8), work-life balance (4 vs 3.9), and compensation (3.8 vs 3.7). Employees at female-founded companies stayed on average for 8 months longer than employees at male-founded companies (3 years vs 2.4 years)
Employees at male-founded companies report being happier with company culture (3.9 vs. 3.8) and career progression opportunities (3.6 vs. 3.5) than those at female-founded companies.
Sensational Scoring
Preply, founded by Kirill Bigai, who remains CEO, came first out of the 20 companies with an average score of 4.3 for all categories. It was followed by cleaner lifestyle products company Oura, with 4.2. Female-founded Canva, Clue, and Verge Genomics also followed with a score of 4.2, making up the top 5 companies reporting the highest employee satisfaction.
The study also looked into employee approval for companies where the founder has remained in the CEO position, and there was no difference between male-led and female-led companies. Verge Genomics, led by Alice Zhang, is the only company to report 100% CEO approval from employees.
“Our research shows female leadership fosters an environment of empowerment, diversity, and inclusivity. When women lead, they bring a unique and vital perspective that cultivates a space where every employee, regardless of gender, feels represented and inspired. This is not just about having role models but about creating a culture where the diversity of thought and experience is valued and leveraged to drive innovation and growth.” says Katie Sanders, senior editor of The CTO Club
“A lesson all tech leaders can take from the results of this study is recognising flexible work arrangements and the importance of personal time.”
This not only reduces burnout but also significantly enhances job satisfaction, underlining the fact that understanding and empathy are critical components of effective leadership.” adds Katie.