THE 1990S: DECADE OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
This research analyzes the women in leadership chapter of Megatrends 2000 by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene (1989, pp. 216 240). The chapter ("The 1990's: Decade of Women in Leadership") is analyzed within the contexts of (1) purpose, (2) ideas developed, (3) applicability to nursing, and (4) personal reactions.
The authors' purpose in this chapter was to describe an environment of economic and organizational change in which competition will be greater, opportunities will be greater, and in which new forms of leadership will be required to assure organizational success. The emphasis by the authors is on for profit corporate organizations.
Three central ideas were developed in this chapter. The first idea developed is that the concept and application of leadership in organizations will change from a military model to a sort of nurturing, cheer leader model. The second idea developed is that women are better positioned to provide the new type of leadership than are men. The third idea developed (to a lesser extent than the first two) is that it is United States based organizations that will lead this transition in the 1990s, as opposed to those based in Europe or Asia.
One of the reasons cited by the authors to support their contention that women are better positioned than are men to
provide the type of leadership required in the 1990s is that the male socialization process tends to emphasize control, whereas the female socialization process tends to emphasize nurturing. While the importance of nurturing in the practice of nursing is well recognized, this revelation by the authors holds no special applicability for nursing because the idea is not new to the profession of nursing.
A reason cited by the authors to support their contention and it is women who will provide the new leadership required by organizations in the 1990s is that "women have reached a critical ma...