Deborah Smith Pegues - Lead Like a Woman: Gain Confidence, Navigate Obstacles, Empower Others

If you can collaborate and have people own the results rather than dictating the change to them, youll be more successful.

Michelle McKenna , Senior VP/Chief Information Officer,
National Football League

Bold, practical, engagingan inspiring, transformative resource for women leaders.

Shaunti Feldhahn , bestselling author of For Women Only and The Male Factor

As an avid reader, there are few books that can really stick with me for a long period of time. You will find yourself excited, determined, and in total agreement with all Deborahs time-tested personal examples as a successful leader and God-fearing woman. Get one for yourself and sow another copy in another womans life!

Marilyn Hickey , Founder, Marilyn Hickey Ministries, Inc.

Co-host of Today with Marilyn & Sarah

Author of Its Not Over Until You Win

Smart, sophisticated, spiritual, simple, and straightforward. Deborah Smith Pegues gets it all in Lead Like a Woman .

Dr. Leith Anderson , author of Leadership That Works

President Emeritus, National Association of Evangelicals

In Lead Like a Woman , Deborah Smith Pegues challenges women to pursue their calling with confidence. Every woman in a place of authority or influence will find personal and professional enlightenment in this impactful resource.

Shirley Hoogstra, J.D.

President, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

Deborahs wisdom is priceless. Many of the recommendations she puts forth are not found in college and business school curriculaleaving many women to learn by trial and error. Lead Like a Woman is unbiased, practical, and guaranteed to yield synergistic results when followed. I highly recommend this book to women leaders at every level of authority and to the many men who are committed to seeing them succeed.

Bishop Edward Smith

Presiding Bishop, ZOE Association International

Author of Fruitfulness: Seven Secrets to Getting More Out of Life

Lead Like a Woman is a leadership bible for women. Keep it near your desk, underline it, and mark it up because youll be referring to it again and again. Ive always been a huge fan of Deborahs books, but this is an amazing achievement.

Kathleen Cooke

Co-founder & Executive Vice President,

Cooke Media Group and The Influence Lab

Author of Hope 4 Today: Stay Connected to God in a Distracted Culture

Deborah has a fantastic way of making truths practical to our daily living and Lead Like a Woman applies her amazing wisdom for women in all walks of life. Read this and be inspired and encouraged!

Sarah Bowling

Founder/CEO, Saving Moses, Inc.

Co-host of Today with Marilyn & Sarah

Deborah is an absolute pro! This book is a must read for any woman trying to increase her influence. Leadership is a learnable skill and Lead Like a Woman has keys that will help you unlock your leadership future.

Chris Robinson , Executive VP, The John Maxwell Team

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

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Lead Like a Woman

Copyright 2020 by Deborah Smith Pegues

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97408

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-8406-5 (pbk)

ISBN 978-0-7369-8261-0 (exclusive)

ISBN 978-0-7369-8415-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-7369-8016-6 (eBook)

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To all women who lead or influence others

CONTENTS

PART 1
Inherent Traits to Embrace and Manage

PART 2
Counterproductive Tendencies to Let Go

Its a girl!

From the moment you were born, gender socialization began. Socialization, the process by which we learn how to behave based on societal norms and values, is the basis for the gender stereotypes that you must deal with for the rest of your life. Socialization starts with your parents and is perpetuated by relatives, teachers, and other influencers, who reinforce the different expectations for female versus male roles.

Girls are socialized to embrace pink, be caring and nice, use their indoor voice, be humble, get along with others, and be ladylike, as defined by the culture. Boys are socialized to choose blue, be assertive, not cry, and compete to win. Later in life, a problem develops when women aspire or are called to a leadership role.

For centuries, we have been socialized to view leadership as a mans domain. Women who have entered this sacred realm face a double bind: maintaining their femininity while skillfully crossing the stereotype line and being assertive and strong. For some people, both men and women, the idea of a powerful female is still too much to accept as a norm. But things are changing, albeit slowly.

Over the past four decades, the increase in female leaders has produced new approaches to the exercise of leadership. Womens leadership styles have been shown to be more transformative, participative, and inclusive than the leadership styles of their male counterparts. According to the results of a 2008 Pew Research initiative studying whether men or women make better leaders, participants stated that women possessed the top eight leadership characteristics, including honesty and intelligence, by a ratio of five to one when compared to participants rating of men.

But despite accounting for nearly half of the workforce in the United Statesand more than half of the middle-management positionswomen are still rare among CEOs of the largest corporations. In 2019, they held only 5 percent of the top spots at S&P 500 companies (the 500 largest corporations listed on the New York Stock Exchange). According to the World Economic Forums December 2018 report, it will take another 200 years to close the gender gap at work on a worldwide basis.