Grace Meets Grit: How to Bring Out the Remarkable, Courageous Leader Within

Middleton, a digital marketing expert, explores gender differences in leadership behaviors in this savvy, discerning business guide. She begins by examining gender-defined communication styles and identifies three different types of leadership: transactional, transformational, and laissez-faire. Using the word “grace” to describe a typical female style of communication and “grit” for a typical male approach, Middleton stresses that neither is right or wrong; instead, they complement each other. She also identifies six qualities as essential to leadership success: being inspiring, driven, decisive, confident, powerful, and resilient. For each, she explains how grace and grit differently embody it. She examines why female leaders often struggle to embody power and confidence, while male leaders struggle with collaboration. The conclusion touches upon several important issues, such as balancing work and personal time, drawing on one’s personal strengths, and challenging male-skewed philosophies of leadership. Middleton offers astute guidance to both grace and grit leaders, showing not only how but why to combine the qualities of each to become a successful leader. [em](Oct.) [/em]