Los siete desperdicios que identifica la manufactura esbelta

The social context of the women‟s upbringing influenced their leadership practices as stated earlier. This finding may explain how the majority of the

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women in this study demonstrated collaborative and servant leadership approaches. Also, the women‟s perceptions of a good leader were interwoven with Christian beliefs, they believed that a good leader should demonstrate the Christian principles. As a result, collaborative leadership and servant leadership were the prominent leadership approaches exercised by the women. These approaches will now be discussed.

Collaborative leadership approach

Many of the women‟s comments reflected a collaborative leadership style which they all viewed as essential in how they displayed their leadership to achieve outcomes. Within each of their contexts, Silo explains the importance of teamwork through collaboration where “the leaders should actually work together

with the people and lead the people but work together with them, and get the job done.” Likewise, Jolly shares what her role as a leader involves:

It‟s coordinating at the divisional level and liaising, and collaborating with other chairperson, the dean and the deputy. Then at our divisional level, I‟m collaborating with discipline leaders.

Geno demonstrated collaboration by enabling followers to have a voice in decision making:

I allocate responsibility accordingly…being transparent telling them “okay based on your work, you will get this much”…and then they have to agree to it. Be open; if they disagree then we start adjusting the figures. Being transparent and also do not overuse or abuse who is working under you. Respect their ideas whenever they say something.

These women‟s comments also illustrated an element of overlap between the task of management and actions of leadership. In other words, collaborative leadership was seen to be interwoven with the managerial aspect of their job in order to achieve outcomes. For many of the women, collaboration within the decision making process was important. However, they also acknowledged that time

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constraints meant certain decisions had to be made without consensual decision making as Ade‟s comment illustrates:

Not afraid to consult with many people, accept their views or bounce off ideas with them. I am not authoritative kind (laughs) and so basically that is participation. Encourage participation whenever we can I mean sometimes it is deadlines and participation kind of consultation suffers.

This further illustrated the importance of participation and teamwork within personal relationships in order to be a successful leader. Leading by example was also important and Vavi‟s comment reinforced the importance of building these relationships:

It must be the person leading by example. And I think the other thing is the leader must also have good personal relationships with people because otherwise if there is no good relationship with people around you, it is going to be difficult in the areas of advice and assistance.

In the following comment Betty expanded on the notion of a good leader as leading by example:

You must be honest; you must be hard working… punctual most of the times, committed to whatever…they‟re going to do as a leader…moral behaviour must be the acceptable moral behaviour…so that you are a role model because we are in an educational institution. I think it‟s important to be a good role model not just as an academic but as a mother…I think to be a good leader if you have all those qualities, try to portray them on daily bases. Respect for one and other, even for non academic staffs and even for the staffs.

This view was also shared by Tessy when she addressed the notion of care when referring to students:

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I would expect a good leader to show they have to be caring for who are under them but also be firm. You have to be firm so you can pull them up at the same time. You can‟t be goody, goody all the time to people and you fail to correct them…So being good and fair to people but at the same time exercising discipline if they need to be discipline.

Taksy shares similar view: “whatever decision you make… You have to stand firm

on whatever you decide.” The two women‟s comments illustrate the importance

of being decisive, an attribute within PNG society that is more associated with men because men are regarded as decision-makers in family situations and when organizing traditional ceremonies such as bride price (a culture in PNG where the man‟s family and relatives give food and money to the wife‟s family), funeral arrangements, and other significant community feasts. The big man leadership approach emphasised decisiveness as a strength for a leader. I now present the findings on a more common leadership approach used by the women.

Servant leadership approach

Overall, the findings indicated that the servant leadership approach can be both advantageous and pose limitations for the women. The narratives portrayed a strong element of servant leadership. This leadership approach is based on the notion that interest of the others precedes the interest of the leader (Alston, 2005). One of the key characteristics is humility. Some of the women were explicit in their description of their leadership which they believed to be effective. Taksy remarked:

You must know first and foremost is that in order to be a great leader you must be a servant first. That‟s what I believe…you have to relate to these people. In order for you to relate to be them, you might as well get down to them. In the end, it‟s kind of like a service, you are serving them.

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To be a very good leader, you have to be a servant to your followers. Being a servant does not mean that you do everything for them [instead] you have to live by example so people will look and say “she is doing something, how come she‟s higher than me, she‟s working and I‟m not, I better do something. You have to have charisma and empathize with those below you.

Servant leadership was seen as an avenue to build non-hierarchal relationships between the leaders and followers. The non-hierarchal relationships were encouraged by working collaboratively with others in the decision making processes. Additionally, to able to empower others through sharing of leadership responsibilities, for instance, by assigning others to take lead in some of the activities. However, although servant leadership calls for humility, Samantha cautions:

But they (follower) also recognise that you are a leader. There is a fine line between you and them, and sometimes situations call for that line not to be crossed over. Otherwise people can go their own way and not bother to listen.

It is important to note that this leadership approach has attributes which reflect leading with a silent voice because being a servant leader placed women in secondary place. This is because the dominant big man leadership paradigm to some extent fosters autocratic leadership approach in PNG. It means the attributes of servant leadership such as humility and submissive can disadvantage women. Women practicing such leadership approach may possibly be not considered for future leadership opportunities due to this approach regarded as being passive whilst the characteristics of the big man leadership approach are sought after. On the other hand, this leadership approach may not challenge the status quo and therefore men will not feel threaten by women who demonstrate this leadership approach. At the same time, women can use this approach as a vehicle to encourage other women in the development of their leadership skills and to increase the representation of women in leadership positions.

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Summary

In summary, this chapter has outlined the women‟s perceptions and values held towards leadership, and their experiences of leadership structures within the higher education. The first key finding demonstrated the powerful influence of the socio-cultural context of PNG and how power and control over women was evident at the many levels of the society. This was apparent through the powerful influence of the fathers in the families, and the women‟s place in the society as secondary compared to the men. Additionally, the differences in the gender attributes between women and men according to societal stereotyping influenced how women were viewed and treated as leaders. The differences in the gender attributes were prominent as many of the women described using „motherly approaches‟ while men were referred to as being „authoritative‟ in their leadership approaches.

Furthermore, the influence of the socio-cultural context was evident through the informal leadership roles the women embarked on within their families and in the churches. On one hand, the women‟s informal leadership roles in the church and in the families gave them the opportunity to develop and enhance their leadership skills. On the contrary, despite such leadership opportunities, males in the church and in the families were still the authority figures who had much power over the women. Lastly, the findings illustrated how the big man leadership impacted on the women. Such extensive power and control vested in men was embedded in the strong patriarchal values and patterns of behaviour which most often created drawbacks on how the women were viewed as leaders within the higher education context.

The second key finding demonstrated the persistence influence of the socio- cultural context on the women‟s beliefs and values held towards leadership, and that is, the Melanesian communal value systems through their family upbringings and Christianity. The leadership values highlighted were honesty, collaboration, respect, commitment and role modelling.

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The third key finding illustrated the experiences of the women and examined what had influenced their access to leadership roles within the higher education context. Firstly, the aspiring leaders and women leaders‟ appointments were based on the qualification and experience. However, the lack of transparency in the informal and the formal appointment process was both positive influence and a setback for the women to advance in their careers. Additionally, while the men played the role of gatekeeping, on one hand, some women also played the similar role and further disadvantaged the women‟s progress to leadership positions. The women worked in isolation showing that there was minimal networking, and mentoring of women to leadership positions. The findings also indicated that the women experienced indirect and direct discrimination. Most of the discrimination was due to the cultural attitudes towards women. Furthermore, the cultural behaviour and attitudes held towards the domestic roles of the women made it difficult for them to balance work and family because their spouses were unsupportive in this area. Lack of confidence also impacted women‟s progress to leadership positions due to women‟s experience of harassment and the overwhelming leadership responsibilities in the higher education.

The fourth key finding illustrated women‟s values and beliefs subsequently influenced the leadership approaches employed by the women. Within their leadership approach they identified with many characteristics of servant leadership whereby the interest of others preceded personal interests. Collaborative leadership was also viewed as important in their lives as leaders or aspiring leaders especially in decision making processes.

In next chapter, I discuss key findings of this research in the light of relevant literature to enrich and add to the literature on women and educational leadership in developing countries, especially within the Melanesian context.

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