Chris Garratt is a consultant/trainer at Tower-Leadership Solutions® with 35 years of experience in the field of high tech projects in plant automation, nuclear power, data networking and telecommunication fields. He also recently gave a lecture to the Network on why he is pro "Women in Leadership".

It would be even more impressive if Chris stood in front of a room of old school businessmen and gave this lecture, but many of his arguments are persuasive in light of the changing corporate culture. Men, take notice. Women just might be primed to take over.

The argument is based on two central points. Chris was intrigued by the work of business guru and human think tank, American Jim Collins (www.jimcollins.com), who carried out a 10 year study on Fortune 500 companies to try to determine the factors that propel good companies to great. The standout differential was leadership. Research showed that the top 14 great companies were driven by a particular type of leadership. These companies had leaders who knew how to succeed by harnessing the talents of the their work force.

So point 1 of the argument is that successful companies have a type of leadership that "inspires others to follow the lead by creating a compelling vision of the future and the environment where they want to achieve." Women, being naturally more intuitive and better at building relationships (point 2), tend to lead teams up to levels of high performance rather than delegate down from a power position (in the traditional male defined business universe). Most people would rather be led than managed.

Women form groups with other women based on communication and support. Men are more solitary and non-communicative. Women tend to be more empathetic. Men in general are more competitive. Of course, we have all witnessed examples of women who, trying to fit into a male dominated business culture, adapt male tendencies, or overcompensate to hide their female tendencies. But what Chris is proposing is that women not try to fit into this stereotypical image, but lead in a newly defined environment that doesn't demand that females suppress certain characteristics and values.

Chris explains how the evolutionary trend of human knowledge is setting the stage for female leadership. Originally doubling every 50,000 years since the dawn of civilization, the pace has accelerated up to our modern age so that knowledge now doubles within the span of 1 year. Our individual brains cannot handle this amount of knowledge. Therefore we must form teams to absorb it all. With their positive communication skills, good listening abilities and emotional intelligence, women are more suited to this role.

Chris is a compelling and relaxed speaker. Whether you agree or whether you don't, it's a fascinating subject. Why is a man lecturing on pro women in leadership? Why not? It's a changing world.