This document discusses leveraging gender intelligence in searching for entrepreneurial talent. It argues that businesses need to adopt a new perspective that views talent through a gender intelligence lens in order to identify rising talent, especially among women. A gender intelligence approach can help create an unbiased work environment and allow hidden talents to emerge. It also discusses how the nature of work and leadership styles are changing as more women enter the workforce and bring different skills, like strong communication and multitasking abilities. To be successful, businesses must understand these changes and look beyond preconceived biases to view all potential candidates, both men and women, as viable sources of talent.

1. LEVERAGING GENDER
INTELLIGENCE LEADERSHIP©
IN THE SEARCH FOR
ENTREPRENEURIAL TALENT
It’s Out There but You Have to Know Where to Look and You
Have to Know What You Are Looking For

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AUTHORS
Dr. Pauline T. Crawford
CEO Corporate Heart Ltd UK
President World Association of Visioneers & Entreprenologists (WAVE)
&
Dr. James A. Omps
President, International University of Entreprenology USA
April 1, 2015
All materials are copyrighted© and are the intellectual property of the authors. This material has
been authorized for use by Corporate Heart Ltd UK, the World Association of Visioneers &
Entreprenologists (WAVE) USA, and the International University of Entreprenology (IUE). Any use or
publication of this document, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the authors
or their authorized representatives, is prohibited by law. Brief quotes taken from this text are
permissible only if the authors and/or copyright holder is correctly cited as the source.

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FOREWARD
As the global workplace continues to develop and adapt to a sweepingly new business culture, where
men and women work side-by-side, the importance of understanding and applying gender
intelligence to this evolving process is not only desirable but, in the vast majority of cases, absolutely
mandatory. By making gender intelligence an integral part of the process, it is possible to create a
balanced unbiased work environment where a positive view of natural gender performance will
emerge and allow a new perspective on talent to come to the surface, recognised by men and
women alike.
Business needs new talent now; players who have more self-confidence in their performance, greater
managerial leverage in any situation and enhanced potential to lead successfully whether in an all-
male, all-female or mixed environment. Leaders, managers and team players need to neutralize
gender roadblocks and eliminate preconceived biases that exist regarding working effectively with
the opposite sex. Business today - and in the foreseeable future - requires people to open up to new
possibilities regarding ways to build successful workplace models that address the needs of both
male and female workers. Finally business needs to guarantee that every player - men and women
alike - gains greater clarity, direction and purpose, thereby ensuring unbiased, inclusive and
pragmatic decisions that are real-world focused.
Understanding a gender intelligent approach means we can empower both women and men to value
how females bring their unique outlook, talents and leadership skills to middle - and increasingly - to
top management. These unique talents are now more noticeable than ever as more women impact
the nature of work itself by moving it in a more feminine direction which influences men’s behaviour
too. The style is more of a relationship and service focused approach, and is now recognized as a
style that can be utilised effectively by male leaders as well. How, then, do we understand this trend
and use it to identify rising talent in the current workplace to suit the changing nature of work? As
the numbers change, it is also observed that the different classifications of men and women are
impacting the nature of how we interact with each other at work and at home. The dynamic of
feminine versus masculine traits and talents in both men and women – when it comes under the
microscope as task combined with relationship management - can indicate the difference between
success and failure.
Markets are changing too. Today the consumer is most likely female. As business continues to evolve
rapidly, more and more women are starting and managing their own enterprises and, very often,
guiding them in new ways with a new vision. Different generations see the world of work in different
ways and inter-generation gender differences create different views about what talent is needed in
the workplace. New technology and global social media are also underscoring the major shift that is
occurring. Feminine leadership, which is rapidly emerging as a preferred leadership style employed
by both men and women, is being heralded by many as the most effective type of leadership if
sustainable success is the goal. The workplace talent can, therefore, be understood better through a
gender intelligent lens.
Gender intelligence shapes a dynamically new perspective on the gender game as it is no longer just
about men versus women. It is about a sweepingly new way to do business that embraces life, family,
and community. It encompasses new technology, generational shifts, transient market dominance
and versatile lifestyles.

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RETHINKING BUSINESS TO FIND AND RETAIN NEW TALENT
As global commerce continues to develop and adapt to a sweepingly new business culture where
men and women work side-by-side, the importance of understanding and applying gender
intelligence to this evolving process is not only desirable but, in the vast majority of cases, absolutely
mandatory. By making gender intelligence an integral part of the process, it is possible to create a
balanced unbiased work environment where a positive view of natural gender talent and
performance (or what we observe as the output of talent) will emerge and allow a new perspective
on individual talent - factoring in gender differentials - to come to the surface. While chairmen of top
corporations here in Malaysia, in Asia and across the world, continue to ask “where is the female
talent for executive management? … and beyond: translation: the boardroom”, they might do well
to look at the untapped resources comprised of highly educated women graduating from university.
They can be found climbing the career ladder in myriad companies and corporations or opting out to
create their own enterprises shaped by their closely held feminine principles as they move
unstoppably toward success. The way forward is to look creatively and innovatively at commerce,
business strategy and potential talent resources through a new lens.
Looking Through the New Gender Intelligence Lens
Business today - and in the near and distant future - requires people to open up to new possibilities
and many unknowns. To build successful workplace models we need to look at current trends and
also, as Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise used to say – “Boldly go where
no man has gone before!” Translation for my purposes in this paper: explore bold new ideas,
implement sweeping changes, imagine new worlds and civilisations and - YES - do what has never
been done before! Rather than continuing to take such great pride in the fact that we are doing
things right, now might be the right time to actually think about doing the right things.
For the most part, we have access to the resources we need and we have access to all of the talent
we need. Statistics prove that the current pool of suitable potential employees is laden with skills
and talents never before available in the quantities we now see. It is obvious that the current talent
pool of employable men and women has changed dimensions not just in size but in character as
well. Sadly – and on a global basis – virtually all cultures appear to have an enormous blind spot with
regard to seeing the obvious. Large and growing industries and corporations in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Australia, European and Asian countries continue chanting the mantra of the
prevailing corporate culture – “We simply cannot find the talent needed to fill upper and executive
management’s potential vacancies … what are we to do?” Well, for starters, they might want to
ponder the fact that approximately 50% (and this percentage is growing with each convocation held
in the world’s most prestigious and popular colleges and universities) of the employable and
unemployed work force consists of women!
Apart from observing and applauding any new models for conducting business over the last decade
or two, we must start to address the rising numbers of women in business and the rapidly changing
needs of both male and female workers to include male and female consumers. We need to factor in
the diverse qualities and talents of men and women across the world in terms of how they impact
commerce, consumer power and lifestyle demands. The world is changing quickly with women
creating a growing influence on a world that needs to embrace or, at the very least, implement a
growing sensitivity toward providing for their needs.

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Many men in the top echelons of business wonder where the untapped potential is – look no
further. Women bring a whole range of new talents that are not only desirable but necessary for
commercial success today. This paper proposes the need for a new understanding of a Gender
Intelligence Leadership©
approach to finding and appropriately placing talent – an approach that
empowers both women and men to value how women add their unique outlook, talents and
leadership skills to middle and increasingly to top management. We need to recognise that to adapt
to such an intelligence requires a new or – at the very least – a highly modified framework. The
implementation of a Gender Intelligence Leadership©
based approach to business created using a
solid Gender Dynamics©
framework can and will help us identify and define desirable and necessary
intrinsic capacities and behaviours in the rising talent needed for organizational success.
Business Needs a New Perspective On Talent
Businesses can benefit from a new perspective on talented players; those men and women who
display self-confidence in their performance, know how to create greater managerial leverage in any
situation, and develop enhanced potential to be leaders who will lead successfully whether in an all-
male, all-female or mixed environment. Leaders, managers and team players need to neutralize
gender roadblocks and eliminate preconceived biases that exist regarding working effectively with
the opposite sex. As we recognise the changes inherent with the factors now mentioned, the
development of rising talent needs to be seen through a new lens, a much broader, yet balanced,
gender lens and ensure that gender awareness is a major influence on modified or completely new
workplace cultures. There is no end of talent but we may be making the mistake of looking at it as an
end result as opposed to the seeds of growth.
Demographics Are Shifting Leadership Styles Dramatically
As the numbers of working women change, it is also observed that the different types of men and
women are impacting the nature of how we recognise new leadership methodologies and their
capacity to influence the work culture. The dynamic of feminine versus masculine traits and
talents in both men and women comes under the microscope as tasks versus relationships
management actually determines the difference between success and failure. It is now more
noticeable that the growing number of women in the workplace is impacting the nature of work
in that it is becoming more feminine. This has an impact on both genders and shifts the
foundation upon which past business cultures have been built. This shift impacts men’s
behavioural response too. This feminine style, if you will, is more relationship and service
oriented and is now recognized as a highly effective business model that can easily be utilized
effectively by male leaders. It has been quantifiably recorded as a more sustainable and
profitable model in today’s rapidly evolving marketplaces.
This new model of business has been studied extensively by McKinseys1
through a ten year study
titled “Women Matter” and in many research studies such as the, Ketchum Leadership
1
http://www.ketchum.com/leadership-communication-monitor-2014

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Communication Monitor2
. The latter took a sample of 6000 men and women across 13 countries
and found strong evidence that women have influenced a style of leadership where the following
attributes are leading the way; transparency, collaboration, genuine dialogue, clear values,
aligned words and deeds. No longer can leaders afford to sit in their ivory towers directing the
game of commerce from afar. This leadership style is being used by both genders and has
effectively proved, over a decade, to return greater and more sustainable profits and long term
growth.
Changing Times, Changing Talents
This style of feminine leadership implies a different set of talents and natural skills may be at work
than previously those that were popular in the older models which included a macho approach to
leadership, status consciousness, and the hierarchical structure common to most commercial
enterprises/corporations. It is a style not always welcomed by all macho men, or some of the
stronger women who have made their way to the top via the more hard-nosed masculine style. The
discussion presented here, however, is set to include both masculine and feminine attributes and
therefore natural gender intelligent talents to be utilized by wise corporations who see the
advantages of men and women working separately and together at all levels. Within each gender, it
is observed through this study of Gender Dynamics©
that not all men are the same and neither are
all women the same, even though the fundamental differentials between genders remains. We have
built an unbiased framework to map out several variables within each gender and between genders.
The need to regard gender in this more complex manner has reared its head due to the changing
numbers of women in middle management work levels, involved either in corporations or growing
entrepreneurial enterprises. Over the past two or three decades more and more women have
entered the workplace; women have established their own businesses, online and in the
conventional marketplace.
Beyond all of this, women’s demands as consumers has transformed the nature of commerce,
economies, services and products. Other major factors of change i.e. technology and entrepreneurial
SME growth, have altered the landscape forever. The talent pool is continually growing with more
than 60 % of graduates now being female. It is also know that women, on average, leave college
with a higher level degree than their male counterparts. These women are focused, strategically
sophisticated and keen to make their way … to earn their wealth and their seat on the board. This
female oriented tsunami is on a fast-track as it approaches the boardroom with no indication as to
what it might leave in its wake.
The Challenges of a Fast Paced World
Our challenge is to evaluate and understand these new elements – women at work, women in
entrepreneurial business, SME growth, fast paced technology evolution and the feminine working
style. These things test even the most entrenched, predominately male, traditionally structured
organisations as women breach the walls of the corporate world. The world is changing faster than
we can teach skills that will allow us keep pace with that change. The players involved in the games
2
http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/organization/latest_thinking/women_matter

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of business and life itself have reached a degree of parity in that they are equally representative as
men and women. They play in the traditional corporate world, moving into emerging markets and
into entrepreneurial enterprise free of any perceived restriction of generations. One online
foundation has been developed by a ten-year boy from South Africa talking about how young talent
will create a new world without the need for our revered and tradition oriented institution of higher
learning. They will not concern themselves overly with doing things right as much as with doing the
right things. Change is constant and the nature of these new players is to keep pace with that change
and they are already aware that our world is like an anchor, so they will simple cut the anchor away.
They are looking at the future through a new lens while we continue to wear the same lenses that
we have looked through for decades.
Influences in the Marketplace Can Obscure Talent
Many influences in the marketplace obscure the very talent we so badly need. Both business and the
competitors change and market demands also change as trends shatter the traditional business
archetypes too. Today, business leaders are beginning to seek talents and abilities that currently
remain just outside the somewhat arbitrary norms set by the top companies that reigned over
commerce over half a century ago. As new and different business needs arise due to changing and
constantly fluctuating markets and consumer demands, such needs cannot easily be satisfied
without a fundamental restructuring of the playing field. Women are becoming the biggest natural
untapped talent resource on the planet yet all too often corporate leaders fail to see the resources
resident within this sector of the work force. If and/or as we change the landscape and the nature of
the gender debate it is important first to discuss the current status of women with regard to gender
talent availability. If we fail to understand the temperament of what is happening for women and
men as changing numbers influence this debate, it may be impossible to qualify and quantify the
untapped talent resource.
The Tenuous Status of “Women in the Workplace” vs. the Unpredictable Nature of
“Men in the Workplace”
When discussing any views on the current status of women be it equality issues pertaining to
women, empowering women, or finding natural talent among women, our first observation is that
this must include all of the same elements that are used for men but in the context of changes that
have come about for women over last few decade or two. It looks like a circular discussion and may
well be, but that being said, women are intrinsically talented in areas such as complex
communication, tangential thinking and multi-tasking. These talents, which are commonly inherent
in women, have been discounted or completely ignored in far too many instances being largely
deemed irrelevant by those responsible for creating the HR agenda regarding the search for talented
employees. We need, therefore, to understand that in considering the implementation of a gender
intelligence approach to seeking and employing individuals with certain skills and talents, we must
seriously seek out and evaluate candidates from the perspective that viability is not limited to one
gender or the other. In brief, what I am telling you is, our gender lens, per se, must be inclusive of
both men as well as women. It is NOT exclusive about the females of a given population.
In this context, gender refers equally to the men and women of any populace but must include a
new vantage point with regard to women when exploring talent. This important point is pivotal as,

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generally speaking, there has been and remains a huge challenge with regard to a conscious or an
unconscious bias that is clearly ingrained in many corporations and government institutions built by
men and maintaining an exclusively male perspective. Many top men still view the gender agenda as
being solely about ushering women into their domain. There is a viewpoint in this male-friendly
environment that appears to hold that needed talents are seldom found in female candidates when
in fact the evidence clearly indicates that there is simply a bias - and again let me state that it may be
conscious or unconscious - that creates a blind spot causing talents in women to be overlooked and
in many instances disregarded.
It should come as no surprise, then, that there is a need to recognize and eliminate gender bias in all
its forms, as we seek a broader view on the wider potential that different genders bring to the table.
If the goal is to transform mind-sets, find new and exciting latent talent, and kick-start new ways to
create business success far from the prevailing norm, it is imperative that we truly examine the
scope of talents required for business today while discarding the outmoded belief that it is, in fact,
possible to accurately “judge a book by its cover.” If the goal is to open commerce to all potential
entrants and discover latent and/or innovative talent, we need to begin with the absolute essentials
of intrinsic gender-specific talents attributable to men and women. Once we determine there is a
new scale for talent evaluation available - and both commerce and the markets need these talents -
then it is mandatory that we embrace what women and men are innately capable of providing,
integrating this new knowledge into a corporation’s leadership and business strategy.
‘Intelligent Gender Debate’ Confused With ‘Discussing Women’s Issues’
With regard to women and their innate talents being complementary with those of men, we need to
widen the scope and address what is needed to suit the economic and social trends and needs of the
day. To empower women on a global basis is an imperative that impacts - and will continue to
impact - both genders, the marketplace and commerce in general.
It is important to emphasize once more, at this point, that virtually every time the word gender is
used in the title of a program, a conference, an organization, a paper or a general discussion
currently, it is perceived as referring to an issue almost exclusively focused on women’s issues.
According to the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary, the word is defined thusly: gender -
noun gen·der ˈjen-dər : the state of being male or female. There is absolutely nothing in that word
that should lead one to believe that putting it before another word would necessarily indicate that
the topic refers solely to women, and yet it appears to be interpreted in that way far too often. The
simple fact of the matter is, the word gender refers to men as well as women. Any discussion
involving gender could and perhaps should also consider gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals
when we introduce a topic led by such a simple and commonly used word.
Why, then, do we automatically bias our perception of gender to refer almost exclusively to women?
There is nothing more important nor is there anything more rudimentary than this fact: global
commerce mandates inter-gender contact. Inherent in this statement is the need for a far more
significant shift in mind-set by men and women in understanding all parties and the changing nature
of business - especially in the SME arena - where enterprise and entrepreneurship often bring a 360°
view into place with regards to all parties, male and female alike, as essential to growth and
sustainable transformation of economies and social communities. The world is changing not merely
due to the fact that women are becoming an increasingly more important part of the picture for a

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wide variety of reasons. We need to recognize that the very substance of business markets, locally
and globally, is evolving rapidly. In short … inter-gender collaboration, talent and empowerment go
hand in hand.
Blocking the Rise of Female Talent by Invoking Outdated Rules and Regulations
According to the latest data available, the global population is almost evenly split - approximately
50% men and 50% women accurate to within 3% to 5% - across the world and in most countries. Of
greater interest is the fact that an increasing number of women are entering global commerce
constantly as college graduates, experienced employees or, more often than not these days, as the
owner/operators of start-up enterprises. We submit that the time to quibble over long debated and
divisive issues is over. We must discontinue 1) Defining what women should be doing with their time
and with their lives, 2) Creating policy (rules/conditions) governing how women should approach
and manage a career, an education, domestic choices, public service, etc., and 3) Either voluntarily
or through the implementation of quotas, do anything and everything necessary to achieve the goal
of a realistic gender balance that every thinking person – man or woman – knows would generate
the positive change that we would all like to see.
Every hierarchy - from business to education to government - that may appear top-heavy with male
leaders should not necessarily be made a target simply to change the male/female percentages that
exist. There is no panacea for the problem and common sense dictates that there may often be a
need for further in-depth discussions on a case-by-case basis. Seldom do across-the-board solutions
fix anything for any length of time. There can be no doubt that, in many instances, the attempt is
made to try the problem in the media where charges are made and rebuttals are offered without
much substance entering into the fray. Women wanting to rise to prominence through their own
talents do often need advocacy from senior men and/or senior women, and are hampered by the
traditional male structure of work. If we are wishing to open up talent pools that have been
heretofore untapped, it would be wise to lift the ‘fishing restrictions’ and think of a new approach.
Men Advocating for Women Not Out of Courtesy but from Accepting the
Importance of the Female Dynamic
Support and encouragement of the innate female talent for leadership, for team building, for
creativity and innovation, should involve positive confirmation and conversations in an atmosphere
of mutual respect. This can more easily be achieved by stimulating a much improved understanding
of gender issues paying particular emphasis on such things as gender bias or restricted views held if
nominal biases are harboured by both men and women in the workplace.
It is a widely considered opinion that there is a need to stress that many issues grouped under the
gender banner relate to both men and women, and that the empowerment of women cannot be
achieved without a consensus that men and women are now indelibly partnering each other in
business, in society and in their life journeys.
Biases referenced earlier have long outlived any perceived usefulness. It is time to put all false
perceptions aside, and to rid ourselves of the bias that takes form when we hear and/or see certain
trigger words that prompt it. It is time to realize and to admit what someone once said a few years

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back; “The problem is not that we don’t understand … the problem is … we don’t understand that
we DON’T understand.”
True and achievable gender equality has failed to gain much traction on many issues – equal pay,
equal opportunity, lifestyle, wealth, harassment or discrimination – because gender sameness has
been the focus over the last 6 decades. Quite simply, men and women are not the same, biologically,
socially, emotionally or with regard to lifestyle functions or goals. Men and women play different
roles, have different functions in society, and have different life paths whether as a single or in a
relationship. They normally have different values, goals and aspirations, and can see even the same
things from many different perspectives. It is apparent that we all cling tenaciously to our own
closely held views of what gender is all about. Across the world today, women are gaining ground
and making serious inroads into changing the existing landscape. The trends are noticeable and
measurable but not dramatic enough to place greater numbers of women in the upper echelons of
education, business and politics – at least not in sufficient numbers to come closer to the percentage
of qualified leaders that their total numbers would indicate and/or indeed mandate.
A focus on a new blueprint may be a viable option, i.e. expand current parameters to embrace the
freedom for women to be at work, work a flex-schedule, run their own businesses or aim for loftier
position in the corporate world if that is what they want. Those options are severely impeded by the
current male-dominated business model that the world adopted more than two centuries ago.
While business and enterprise growth was originally established and has been maintained via this
model, a sweepingly new structure is needed. We should no longer settle for the status quo simply
because it has been in place for so long. With technology advances and the online mobility available
to growing numbers of men and women, it would seem the future could emerge with a very
different landscape.
Now is time for corporations to be focused on the empowerment of women and true gender
equality to review and redefine how women, with and through the understanding and support of
the opposite gender, build a mutually beneficial and all-inclusive common-sense approach to
promoting, creating and maintaining full gender equality at work and at home. It is not women or
men who need to change so much as the playing field upon which commerce has continued to play
the game over the past 200 years. There is a need for a systemic change that not only allows for all
gender inclusion but one that actually welcomes them instead. There is room for everyone with a
desire to get into the game. There is room for all to transform their dreams into reality. If women
and men can embrace the idea that they are complementary to each other and the success of their
business rather than competitors … if they can see themselves more as partners in business and life,
dedicated to jointly building the new business blueprint … this is the way forward. Women are
talented and want to work with men to create a new mind-set that removes bias, forges appropriate
and effective inter-gender communications and creates mutual value. By being keenly aware of the
unique characteristics of each other, corporate professionals and entrepreneurial owners of small
and medium enterprises everywhere - men and women alike – can create a new energy in all
enterprises and empower both genders to deliver the best output of their talents.
Talents Can and Do Vary by Gender Nature – Creating a New Perspective
The range of females available vary from the more logical, rational, process minded, thinking,
masculine-minded female, (we code them MF), through to the more intuitive, verbally dexterous,

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feeling, feminine female, (coded as FF). All have female qualities of sensitivity, intuition, emotional
intelligence, multi-tasking, collaboration and nurturing. Some of these ‘talents’ may be deemed not
to be talents in a traditional mind-set but alongside today needed more than ever to complement
our natural borne skills such as being artistic, linguistic, scientific, numerical, administrative,
persuasive, musical, mechanical or philanthropic, these gender based talents are required in today’s
search for talent at work.
Men also have a varied nature that has opened up the intuitive, emotionally intelligent, and verbally
dexterous male, the feminine minded man (coded as FM) and the traditional masculine man, logical,
rational, process thinker, (coded as MM). All men have natural strengths commonly identified as
male talents such as compartmentalization, task focused, solution driven risk taker. In the war on
talent, the wise corporation will change the parameters, widen the requirements based on female
players and notice the growing numbers of talented female graduates advancing to complement
their male counterparts. The Gender Dynamics©
framework reveals how MM. FM, MF and FF natural
position underpins talents, communication and leadership capability.
Talents Can Vary by Mindset – Entrepreneurial or Corporate
An entrepreneurial mind-set might be the next most sought-after-talent for corporate advancement
and many women have a lively multi-layered entrepreneurial mind-set and talent. Entrepreneurs
have demonstrated the success potential of applied non-traditional talents simply by the telling of
their stories. These risk oriented and highly talented individuals have often been avoided by
corporations, perhaps because less talented corporate leaders fear not being able to control the
‘rebel’ in their midst! Today, however, the entrepreneurial spirit is more attractive as change causes
chaos and a disruptive creative and innovative skill set suddenly looks quite desirable!
There is no doubt that the playing field has shifted somewhat but we have failed to replant the new
sod. As a consequence, we continue to play on ‘the good old boy’s turf’ hoping the game will
somehow be different even as we continue to play by the same rules. Along with technology driving
our daily existence, business - both corporate and entrepreneurial - has become a very fruitful
ground for women. The dawn of the women wealth creators is coming and increasingly because
she wants to create her own destiny.
An entreprenologist, a higher level thinker who wants to grow a big business rather than be a solo
entrepreneur or small business owner, seeks to turn his/her vision (dream) into reality. Examples
include people like an Oprah Winfrey, a Steve Jobs, a Bill Gates, a Sir Richard Branson, a Tony
Fernandes or an Elizabeth Holmes. The fact is that men and women like this gain notable fame and
success because they were willing to accept the mandated risks of manifesting their dream … their
vision. Is it their talents alone that made this possible? We know they had the requisite talents and it
is obvious they had passion, an idea, a vision, and values that ignited their determination to
overcome the many obstacles they faced, obstacles such as, in many instances, the deep and
frequent failures that beset them along the way. How do we observe talent emerging in
corporations where such talents are often overlooked and/or openly suppressed? With a far wider
lens than any we may have ever used before. A lens, perhaps, that can identify and value different
attributes … those capable of driving the appropriate outcomes desired while minimizing the
restrictive nature of outdated parameters. The proposition here is that talent can be far more
diverse than in the past as rapid and unscheduled change occurs to impact a business and the men

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and women that bring this entrepreneurial talent to work in varying ways. These change-driven
forces impact business and challenge our view of talent which, when freely expressed, is seen in the
success stories quoted above. Talent is everywhere. It is energy, ideas and unteachable innate
attributes. It is variable and exciting, and may well be found in creative people who may not want to
be harnessed or developed within the rigid and sometimes arbitrarily positioned boundaries and
restrictions imposed by conventional corporations.
Identifying and Developing Talent by Means of a Gender Intelligence Lens
The development of talent cannot be rote. Indeed you cannot teach ‘talent’. If, however, this lens
can facilitate the search for talent, then the development of that potential resource needs to be
fluid, flexible, and future focused while being delivered real-time and real-world. And as talent stems
from a natural resource within, the development of a talented person must draw on their passion
and perhaps of greater importance, it must be fun! We need to move away from outmoded
thinking, let go of the past, and we need to - as noted sociologist and futurist Alvin Toffler once said -
develop the ability “learn, unlearn and learn again.” We must craft new lenses that men and
women of all generations and backgrounds can look through to see enable talent to emerge
naturally. If organizations are to keep pace with the change that is coming at us faster and faster,
they need see things differently in order to prevail. It is worth noting, at this point, that identified,
encouraged and developed talent will create a return for the organization’s market, products and
services. If a talented individual aspires to go their own way at a given time, after the relationship
with their organization has borne fruit, the true nature and value of that talent has been realized.
Observing With New Eyes
The path to developing talent starts with new eyes observing and taking note that not just the
participants are changing but so is the game, the map and the territory. In order to navigate this new
grouping to find the talent we want to develop organizationally, we need to regard three factors; 1)
the individuals by gender (and therefore their natural male/masculine and female/feminine
attributes and talents), 2) the generation (and thereby their expectations and values), and finally 3)
the desired need for talent within organization with regard to outcomes. Talented individuals are
smart, bright, passionate and alert people and, if not acquired by an organization, they may well
create their own enterprise success or even create a new industry e.g. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
created an entirely new industry. This new territory is unpredictable and the climate for commerce
in such a territory is equally unpredictable. The economic conditions and the needs of individuals
now change almost daily. Even the most highly skilled economic trend forecasters cannot accurately
keep up with such a pace.
The Talent Pool
Looking at potential talent using gender intelligence alternatives created on the Gender Dynamics©
framework can give organizations a head-start with regard to finding, recruiting and ultimately
developing future stars. There is a new range of talents in the marketplace when one considers the
female talent that has, for far too long, been overlooked. This is not just about individual talent for
creative ideas and innovation but the full spectrum of talents that organizations need such as those
deemed ‘soft skills’ – e.g. emotional intelligence, managing people, personal power, empowering

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communication, collaborative leadership and natural inspiration so often lacking in leadership and
management. Women are now establishing clear leads in these qualities – let’s call them talents –
and there is new evidence over the last decade that “feminine leadership” makes a positive
difference in growth and sustaining bottom line results. There is a direct correlation as well to
employee satisfaction, creative/innovative output and quality results for companies. The evidence
now shows us that this leadership style encompasses natural talent that some men are choosing to
embrace in order to enjoy the benefits that lead mixed-work communities - men and women at all
levels - to value the nature of this leadership style.
This leadership talent, in particular, embodies un-teachable skills … and only these innate skills make
it possible. We cannot learn to be emotional. We are emotional human beings from birth. It is the
very nature of business that, for over a century, has controlled those baseline talents that women
bring to the table. By adopting and implementing a new Gender Dynamics©
/Gender Intelligence
Leadership©
perspective, we can create a territory where natural talents can be more easily noticed
and can be encouraged to flourish. We have the ability and the tools to develop a gender intelligent
criteria and development plan to ensure this talent can thrive for men and women alike.
Matching Talents Using the Gender Dynamics© Framework
Matching talent to desired outcomes is critical with regard to the gender-specific and cross-gender
talents found in a mixed gender human resource pool. For example, if emotional intelligence is a
natural talent of women make it a business specific talent for females to use with the understanding
that it is neither greater nor less than decision making talents and skills which may be a more
pronounced in male candidates. Each gender can learn the other ‘skill’ to add to their natural talent
base.
There are three major areas with regard to the matching process: 1) matching talent with position
i.e. talent for leadership, 2) matching talent with results i.e. encouraging both male and female
creators and innovators to be empowered to be outspoken and, 3) matching talent with the
unknown risk-takers – the futurists, the ‘crazy ones’ - those who’s talent that may seem a little too
unconventional at first glance. Steve Jobs once said, “Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the
rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things
differently. They're not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify
them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things ... they push the
human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the
ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Perhaps just a little ‘crazy’ is what is needed at times … to discern talent that can be mistaken as a
personality trait. Where organisations are looking for creativity and innovation, crazy may be useful!
Maybe the notion of regarding talent as variable in some cases - depending on gender - is as
different as women are from men but then perhaps it is not as far-fetched as one might imagine.
If what is required is diverging from the ‘established norm’ when it comes to thinking and acting,
then that may be the path we need to take. It would certainly be - at this particular point in time -
the “path less travelled. There is always an inherent risk when one breaks from tradition but as
millions of successful business men and women are fond of saying … great reward often mandates
great risk

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