Women heads of states around the world have demonstrated high rates of success in their approaches to pandemic control during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. This includes the likes of Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, Germany’s Angela Merkel, Asian heads of state like Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan and Carrie Lam of Hong Kong (with the caveat that her condemnable handling of the Hong Kong protests is at odds with this blog's analysis), and Scandinavian leaders like Erna Solberg of Norway, Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, Finland’s Sanna Marin, and Iceland's Karin Jakobsdóttir. It is now evident that a number of countries led by women have outperformed male-led peers in the pandemic response.

A body of research on leadership styles hints at the reasons for women leaders’ superior management of the crisis, and many commentators have examined this trend since the beginning of the pandemic. This is, perhaps, the right time to delve deeper into the subject of political leadership styles, and to explore the benefits of transformational and relational leadership frequently demonstrated by women  for nation-states: not just in times of extraordinary crisis and uncertainty such as these, but also in times of peace and prosperity, or even the usual humdrum struggles of countries as they trundle through the early decades of the 21st century.

What is different about women’s leadership styles? Research indicates that women demonstrate a propensity for transformational and interactive leadership styles, rather than the transactional  or, at the other end of the spectrum, uninvolved ‘laissez-faire’  leadership often seen in male counterparts. The transformational leadership style, which is associated with intellectual stimulation, individualised consideration, inspirational motivation and idealised influence (role model behaviours), has been found to enhance trust. Relational leadership emphasises accountability, trust and inclusion.

In stark contrast with the arrogantly opinionated approach demonstrated by the male leaders of some powerful countries, what has been observable in the leadership of women heads of states during the ongoing crisis is an emphasis on kindness, empathetic decision-making paired with decisiveness, planning (including early or pre-emptive action), and clear, effective communication with no attempt to mislead or obfuscate facts. A focus on science and expert consultation in decision-making has characterised their handling of the crisis, instead of knee-jerk reactions and mad scrambles to fix poorly planned policies. Empathy has been a recurring theme for women leaders across the board. All of this is indicative, perhaps, of pragmatism stemming from a place of humility rather than hubris.

The current imperative is to continue to document and study the performance of women-led governments and relatively gender-balanced political systems in the months and years ahead, as countries, economies and healthcare systems cope with both the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and its aftershocks and cascading impacts over the next decade. This includes women’s handling of the economic recessions that may soon follow.

In a corporate context, McKinsey’s research shows that companies with a higher number of women in senior leadership positions are more successful at tiding over crises, as these organisations score highly on two metrics - the leaders’ ability to guide and inspire their team, and their ability to define the direction in which the company is heading and the resources required. Similarly, companies with more women leaders score highly on innovation, which was found to be the most important factor in post-crisis recovery. To extrapolate, the same may apply to political stewardship in times of national or global crisis. There is some evidence to indicate that this may be true in a public health scenario. Research shows that more women in leadership positions is linked to higher spending on public health, as well as greater public confidence in the government. The presence of more women in legislatures has been linked to lower levels of corruption and improved policy outcomes. A study from the US found that in the American political system, women cosponsor the most healthcare legislation. In the case of conservatives, this is as high as twice the number of bills cosponsored by men from the same political party.

To better understand the role of women’s leadership in times of crisis, it is important to look back at the ways in which women in power have handled public health shocks and other crises in recent decades. There is a body of evidence examining the important role of women’s corporate leadership in firms’ handling of the 2008 recession and their financial recovery thereafter, but women’s political leadership post-crisis was best illustrated in the case of Iceland.

After the collapse of the country’s three largest banks and the ensuing economic crisis, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir took over as Iceland’s first woman prime minister. Women made up half of all ministers in her government. Iceland’s recovery thereafter was impressive - the result of tough policy decisions that ultimately led to quicker results.

While fewer women were holding office as heads of state in affected countries at the time, a look at the role of women political leaders in general during pandemics like SARS and H1N1 will be useful. A quick review of available literature seems to indicate that research on the gendered trends and aspects of political leadership during past pandemics is by and large absent. Digging up this data may provide useful lessons to complement the current ones.

Interestingly, a pandemic that has been on everyone’s minds since COVID-19 began to sweep through the world, the Spanish flu of 1918, may have played a part in precipitating greater participation of women in the workforce. It has been suggested that without the outbreak, the change would have been less pronounced during and after World War I. A further suggestion is that the epidemic may even have helped pave the way to more leadership opportunities for women, in industry and beyond. The US even got its first female governor in 1924.

An intriguing phenomenon in gendered leadership trends is that of the ‘glass cliff'. Women are more likely to be selected or given precedence in leadership roles during times of crisis, while men are the leaders of choice in times of stability and prosperity.  In looking for the reasons for the ‘glass cliff’, researchers have suggested that a ‘think crisis–think female’ stereotype operates in times of uncertainty. A classic example is that of Sigurðardóttir in Iceland. Since women are often chosen for top leadership roles when the chances of failure are highest (and are more likely to be blamed in the event of failure), this potentially motivates women heads of state to strive harder for outcomes that do not invite levels of public censure inflated by bias.

All of this begs the question - could COVID-19 precipitate the rise of more women in high political leadership positions around the world? What does this foretell for the role of women leaders and transformational leadership in a world facing imminent crises on multiple ecological/environmental fronts, as we prepare to grapple with climate change and its wide-ranging impacts?

It is clear that what the world now needs is an equal seat at the political table for women, and the need is markedly urgent. This is also the perfect moment for more men in power to learn from women peers and imbibe more empathetic ways of relating to the populations and societies that they represent and serve.