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You're listening to Women at Work from Harvard Business Review. I'm Emily

Colfield. I'm Amy Bernstein. And I'm Amy Gallo. Throughout the crises we've

been living through, women leaders have repeatedly stepped up to the plate.

There are initiatives that doesn't surprise us, of course. We've seen it

ourselves throughout our careers. And more recently, we've seen corporate

research findings that show precisely how competent women are as leaders.

Zangar Folkman, the leadership development consultancy, has conducted tens of

thousands of 360 degree reviews that assess how effective leaders are. In 2019,

based on their data at the time, they noted that women scored higher than men in

most leadership skills. The consultant's conclusion, women are better leaders.

And with further research during the pandemic, they found that this was

especially true in a crisis. Plus, people who reported to a woman during the

pandemic were more committed to and satisfied with their jobs. The consultants

attributed that satisfaction and commitment to women stand out into personal

skills. In a crisis, employees ranked those skills as critical. They needed

and valued bosses who were sensitive to their stress, who kept them informed

and who took initiative. That's the type of leader we're showcasing here. We want

to celebrate these women and learn from them. We'll hear from four leaders, each of

...