Is corporate governance gendered?

In a discussion with TheLEADER, Nguyen Thi Minh Giang, co-founder of Newing and former director of Human Resources and Culture at Mekong Capital, believes that the suitability of female leadership at this stage is only temporary.

For a business to truly thrive and innovate, diversity in executive leadership is needed. Another point to note is that diversity should be based on management and leadership styles rather than gender.

Recently, there has been an opinion that a feminine management style or female leaders are very suitable for the current economic context. What is your perspective?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: According to my experience, a feminine management style is very effective during the early stages of a business or when a business is going through difficult times.

This is because women are naturally careful, meticulous, and thrifty. However, when a business needs rapid growth and has to accept risks, a feminine management style may not be suitable.

I remember a TED Talk by Simon Sinek, where he presented a test on leadership styles, coordination, and actions between an all-female and an all-male leadership team, with the same task: how to achieve the goal quickly while ensuring the entire team reaches it together.

And what happened? The all-male leadership team reached the goal the fastest, but only a few individuals did. On the other hand, the all-female leadership team reached the goal together, but didn’t meet the time target.

What’s the biggest difference between these two groups?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: In my opinion, the difference stems from the natural characteristics of both genders. The key is that we need to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of ourselves to regulate and learn from others.

In the situation just mentioned, the task was to reach the goal on time and together with the team. However, in reality, both groups failed to accomplish it.

This leads to the story of a team or a leadership board in a company needing to support each other, encompassing the diverse meanings of the leadership team, including both men and women.

Specifically regarding female leaders and the businesses they manage, what identifying characteristics do you notice?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: From my personal observation, businesses led by women tend to focus on cohesion, emotional factors, and coordination among team members. I often say it’s leadership from the heart (emotion), and this is truly necessary when leading an organization to long-term and sustainable results.

However, I have also encountered female leaders who may not effectively balance “rationality” and “emotion” especially during times when businesses need to innovate, adapt quickly, and dare to try new ideas.

For example, when a business needs growth and expansion, the leadership style of men may have an advantage because men are inherently passionate, risk-taking, determined and focused on results.

Saying so doesn’t mean we will frame the issue of gender in management. In fact, I have met many male leaders with a feminine management style and vice versa.

The important thing here is balance, flexibility at different times, and being true to one’s own leadership style.

If a company is in a stagnant state as you mentioned, what can female leaders do to change this situation?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: I think here it will start with female leaders actively training, practicing, and equipping themselves with new skills and styles of management and leadership.

And choose to build suitable companions to accompany and support them. I highly value the leadership team at PNJ, where there is a harmonious combination between chairwoman Cao Thi Ngoc Dung and CEO Le Tri Thong, which is leadership with both rationality and emotion from both of them.

That seems like an ideal solution. But it seems that in reality, not many businesses in Vietnam are as fortunate as PNJ, isn’t it?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: That's right. Having a suitable companion to lead a business is not simple. As a female leader, I believe in transformation, change, and learning new things, and sometimes women have an advantage.

In a study on outstanding CEOs by McKinsey, the top skill in making a difference for leaders is the ability to manage and lead people. This skill includes communication, caring about the emotions of the team, respecting and connecting with colleagues. These are all qualities and strengths of women.

With such inherent strengths, what can female leaders learn from a masculine management style?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: A notable example is empowering employees. Female leaders, due to being overly cautious and needing more time to trust their colleagues, may find it difficult to empower employees as male leaders do.

This can significantly affect the long-term development of a business. Especially in a phase where a business wants to innovate, the joint effort of many people, including empowering employees, is needed. The excessive caution of female leaders can sometimes slow down the pace of business development.

You mentioned earlier that male leadership dares to take risks and steps out of the comfort zone. Has your transition from a high-level executive at Mekong Capital to entrepreneurship reflected this?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: Actually, I’ve always considered myself a woman with a masculine management style. I say this to show that business management does not discriminate by gender.

The important thing is that each leader needs to know their own strengths and weaknesses to transform and improve. Fortunately, we can find teammates who can complement and support us when needed.

I am not biased against men myself. In fact, all the personnel we have now are chosen based on a common criterion, which is that they have worked with me before.

For me, the first members of an organization must be people I understand well, from personality, character, capability. My perspective is that if you choose the right person and put them in the right position, the business can win more than 50 per cent.

This is a hard-earned lesson I have learned over the years. And inadvertently, the teammates I trust are all women.

Isn’t it strange that a startup company has an all-female workforce?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: I myself have no problem with men. In fact, all the personnel we have are chosen based on a common criterion, which is that they have worked with me before.

For me, the first members of an organization must be people I understand well, from personality, character, capability etc. My perspective is that if you choose the right person and put them in the right position, the business can win more than 50per cent.

This is a hard-earned lesson I have learned over the years. And inadvertently, the teammates I trust are all women.

With an all-female team, have you encountered any management-related issues?

Nguyen Thi Minh Giang: Up to now, everything we have is an advantage, and I haven't seen any negative aspects. For me, management does not differentiate by gender, but it's crucial to choose the right people.

The advantage here is that besides work, we share a lot with each other, from family issues to hobbies, habits of women... We truly feel connected to each other.

Of course, I have also thought about the time when Newing needs more diversity in terms of personnel. Surely, when that time comes, we will have the participation of male personnel.