Last year in a Forbes interview, Costa Rica's President Laura Chinchilla* was asked:
What is your least favorite stereotype about powerful women?
Her response, as noted online, was:
There are [stereotypes] still, and it is because we are just
starting to have this kind of [decision-making power]. One is that we are weak.
That is probably because we are more in favor of bringing consensus with
different groups. We understand success not as the result of just one person
but as the result of a team. So that kind of different way of dealing with
power I think is misunderstood as a kind of weakness.
Would love to have you weigh in--is a team-minded approach to leadership a weakness? OR in the 21st century is it time for both male and female leaders to consider how to bring consensus between diverse constituents? For those of you in the US, what do you think the obstacle in D.C. truly is to further bipartisanship (since 2008, at least)?
*President Chinchilla has been compared to Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann in the U.S., but I think she is a bit more forward-thinking, if still a moderate.
