5 Feminine Traits That Make Leaders Great

Feminine traits in great leaders

When business leaders focus on soft skills, it can help increase a company’s financial success. Plus, these soft skills — like empathy, humility, persuasiveness, entrepreneurial spirit and resilience — add to the happiness quotient of employees and their family members.

1. Empathy

Empathy is traditionally seen as a feminine characteristic. While it’s considered a soft skill, or an interpersonal/people skill, a leader’s empathy promotes cooperation and commitment in the workplace.

You’ve probably heard the adage that a rising tide lifts all boats. Empathy makes an excellent leadership quality because it allows employees and customers to feel heard. When people feel listened to by a leader, they are more open to options and more willing to meet others halfway. That creates a collaborative, happy and productive environment in which work can be done better. In fact, employees with empathetic senior-level leaders are 76 percent more engaged and 61 percent more innovative, according to Catalyst.

Julie Castro Abrams, CEO of How Women Lead and managing partner of How Women Invest, said empathy is the most underrated feminine trait. “It’s often dismissed as ‘soft,’ but in reality, it’s a strategic advantage,” she offered. “Empathetic leaders understand their teams, customers and the broader market on a human level. This connection drives better products, stronger relationships and more loyalty.”

Stacey Ryan, president of School of Rock and founder of FrontWomen.org, added, “Empathy is not about compromising strength or authority — it’s about leading with understanding and humanity. As workplaces evolve, leaders who prioritize empathy are better equipped to navigate complexity, inspire loyalty and drive sustainable success.” [Read related article: 62 Inspiring Quotes From Trailblazing Women We Admire]

2. Humility

Women generally don’t like to toot their own horns; thus, humility is often considered a characteristically female leadership trait. Even Jim Collins, the author of the business book “Good to Great,” noted two common traits among successful CEOs: humility and sheer determination. When things go off the rails, humble leaders can openly admit their mistakes and take responsibility, which shows others that being human and imperfect is acceptable.

Emily Walton, founder and coach at Alo Coaching, knows how feminine traits such as humility can contribute to the overall health of leaders and their workforce. “Women are often attributed with creating inclusive, nurturing, and encouraging environments for their teams and their peers, creating opportunities for career advancement for their direct reports, celebrating the successes of others, and checking in on the individual well-being of those around them,” she said. “This is an incredibly valuable combination of traits because it advances the entire skillset of those they lead and creates an environment for a healthy high-performing culture.”

While humility is a great leadership trait, it can go too far. Sliding into subservience, introversion or weakness is never a good way to lead an organization. Not speaking up when you have something to be proud of or a great idea does not help anyone progress. Humility is all about balance.

3. Authenticity

Women sometimes leave the workforce to focus on family due to a lack of adequate parental leave, the affordability of childcare and other reasons. They then reenter the workforce later, bringing skills like authenticity with them.

Using the Kaleidoscope Career Model, Jennifer Knowles and Lisa Mainiero researched the leadership qualities of women who opted out of the workforce and then returned. The study found that women were more interested in authentic business practices and outperformed men in these areas. Authenticity nurtures vital self-awareness, which helps those around them upskill and have a purpose-over-an-ego mindset.

4. Entrepreneurial spirit

Women tend to push creative limits and innovate to improve personally and professionally. Women in power don’t fear big dreams. They focus on achieving those goals and reaching for even higher ones, including starting their own business.  According to Gusto, women made up 47 percent of new business owners in 2022. Plus, one-third of women-owned businesses in 2023 had a community service connection, as opposed to only 19 percent of companies run by men.

“What stands out about female leaders is their ability to embrace vulnerability and courage simultaneously,” said Lauren Bronson Petrous, founder and CEO of Boundless & Co. “They step into entrepreneurship not just to succeed in a traditional sense but to challenge norms and elevate others.”

Women start businesses for many reasons, including financial independence, improved social status, flexible schedules and to fund their children’s education. They balance a family, work and personal life. A woman with an entrepreneurial spirit seeks to make the world a better place for herself and others. From 2019 to 2023, women-owned businesses’ growth rate was 94.3 percent higher than men’s for number of firms. During that period, it was also higher for employment (up 252.8 percent) and had an increase of 82.0 percent for revenue, according to Wells Fargo.

5. Resilience

Women tend to bounce back slightly quicker than men in the face of adversity. That means when the chips are down, women will move past the initial stress more quickly and effectively than men. “Women are driven to step into entrepreneurial leadership because we see the gaps in a system that wasn’t designed for us — and we know we can create something better,” said Abrams. “The desire to solve problems, create equity and make space for more voices motivates women to take the reins … That entrepreneurial spirit is a refusal to accept the status quo and a determination to lead with purpose.”

Because women tend to be the family caretakers, they also tend to juggle stresses a bit better in general — they’re constantly negotiating the home-work balance. Reducing stress makes them more available to their employees, friends and family in times of need.

At work, this translates to relevant benefits for their employees. This can include help with childcare, mental health services and flexible work schedules.

Leveraging feminine leadership traits for success

Just because these leadership traits tend to be more prevalent in female leaders doesn’t mean that leaders of any gender can’t cultivate such soft skills. You can succeed by leveraging feminine traits into actionable steps for your business, like patience, cultural diversity and open communication.

Have patience.

Patience provides the peace needed to reduce stress, cultivate relationships and clarify decisions. Patient leaders are good listeners. This trait helps provide a positive work environment and the opportunity to train better leaders within your organization. “Patience enables thoughtful decision-making, ensuring actions are strategic rather than reactive … creating a supportive culture where employees feel empowered to grow,” said Ryan.

You can also utilize patience to increase productivity, deepen communication and build confidence. By consistently practicing patience, leaders can achieve more goals and prevent burnout.

Prioritize cultural diversity and inclusivity.

Having a culturally diverse workforce and leadership has many benefits. You will notice increased creativity and productivity due to diverse backgrounds and characteristics. “Cultural diversity enriches decision-making and innovation by bringing in a multitude of perspectives that reflect the real world, not just a narrow slice of it,” said Abrams.

“Additionally, inclusive leadership — a hallmark of many female leaders — ensures diverse perspectives are heard, driving more creative and effective problem-solving,” offered Petrous. “Ultimately, these traits create cultures that adapt to change, prioritize people and achieve long-term, sustainable success.”

Focusing on cultural diversity can help retain loyal employees and customers. You will also reap the benefits of faster problem-solving and improved decision-making.

Invite open communication.

With the rise of remote workers and tech-heavy meetings, open communication has never been more critical. It provides leadership with a direct link to employees. Plus, it allows both parties to express ideas and issues safely and transparently.

Open communication welcomes inclusion and improves collaboration between departments. You will also benefit from fewer business processes falling through the cracks and enhanced employee well-being.

Trust your intuition.

Trusting your intuition is vital when completing tasks or making decisions in an area you are skilled in. Using intuition can prevent second-guessing your abilities or falling victim to imposter syndrome.

Being self-aware about your intuition can help you strengthen it and give you the confidence to make moral decisions. “They [women] lean on their intuition, emotional intelligence and courage to drive forward something that matters,” said Petrous. “These skills are essential in creating purpose-driven organizations.”

Feminine attributes can break barriers

It’s important to note that the above traits don’t define how every business runs, nor are they always celebrated. However, feminine characteristics can break barriers and are part of a diverse group of skills worth utilizing. They can improve business communication, creative ideas, social responsibility and more.

“Corporate America hasn’t always welcomed these traits in positive ways,” said Ryan. “Patience or open communication, for example, can sometimes be perceived as vulnerabilities or weaknesses rather than essential leadership skills … Breaking this mindset and leaning into these qualities unapologetically is an ongoing challenge but one that ultimately makes us better leaders and creates workplaces where these traits are embraced and celebrated for the strengths they truly are.”

Angela Koch contributed to this article.