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As
James Bond might tell you, it takes an Alpha Male to endorse an Omega
Watch. But ever since the days of sundials, women have gone bananas over
the Alpha Male - one who can provide for his family, meet instalments on
the Alfa Romeo and, hopefully, be one too.
However, are we finally breaking out of the simian mode of
chest-pounding, muscle-flexing and serial-shagging with the evolution of
the Alpha Female?
Recently, there has been much discussion in the US and UK about the
female equivalent of the pushy and ambitious Alpha Male.
Indeed, 60 per cent of the 1,000 largest companies, and nine in 10
Fortune 500 corporations, have at least one female director.
In Singapore, just six per cent of company directors are female - even
though most of us are taken for a ride every day by an Alpha
Female-in-training: Saw Phaik Haw, CEO of SMRT Corp since last December.
The question is, can we put a face to The Alpha Female?
Is the ultra-feminine Fann Wong with the hair-free body beautiful an
Alpha Female prototype?
Or is formidable boardroom prowess a more orthodox benchmark? Which then
calls to mind power-suited leading ladies such as Ho Ching, executive
director of Temasek Holdings.
According to sociology professor Saroja Dorairajoo of the National
University of Singapore: "One sentence sums it up for me. The Alpha
Female is the ideal Singaporean professional woman - she is loving,
nurturing and possesses all of the cherished qualities of a family
woman. But she is equally adept at using these almost naturally endowed
qualities to get work done in the public space in an orderly manner, as
opposed to the aggressive male."
So, it seems donning a tougher-than-thou facade is no longer necessary,
unlike in the early days of the working woman.
Curiously, ex-Simex chair(wo)man Elizabeth Sam told Today that, over 10
years ago, the corporate culture actually forbade women from wearing
power pant-suits.
"It had to be a skirt-suit, though I always thought pant-suits were
more practical and modest," she chuckled.
"Anyway, I don't believe that being in a man's world requires
dressing like one. What's more important is knowing your work."
Neither is an hour-glass figure a prerequisite Alpha attribute.
And a prominent figure at The Hour Glass, Managing Director Jannie Tay,
thinks that an Alpha Male faction driven by insecurity and ruling by
fear will eventually drive itself extinct.
Indeed, wildlife observer Richard Conniff, the author of The Natural
History of the Rich, told abcNEWS.com that corporate Alpha Males
"dominate by shouting, tyrannising people and using sheer physical
presence - exactly what an alpha male does in a chimp troupe or among
gorillas".
"Though we are by nature a paternalistic society, mere power,
control and autocracy won't work with the new generation anymore,"
said Mrs Tay. "Compassion, nurturing and mentoring is needed to be
a great leader."
Thus, it is no statistical accident that two women have founded
Singapore's first Research University on Leadership (RUL), to be
completed next year.
Said co-founder Dr Diana Young, CEO of Mil-Com Aerospace: "A leader
does not necessarily have to lead all the time. He or she is one who is
accepted and respected by a group."
Dr Shirley Lim, co-founder and President of RUL, also organised the
Inaugural Global Leadership and Mentoring Congress here in February this
year.
Besides displaying herding instincts, Alpha Females also have no problem
co-existing in a closely-knit posse.
For the past four years, Jannie Tay, Elizabeth Sam and Jennie Chua
(Raffles Holding's CEO) have been ballroom dancing buddies.
"Elizabeth has won 10 dancing trophies and I haven't won any, but I
only feel happy for her. We support each other, and there is no 'leader'
within the group," said Mrs Tay.
Have they had to put up with any monkey business from Singapore's beta
boys?
"Not at all," said Mrs Jennie Chua. "Being male or female
should have little bearing, what matters is the person's ability. I have
never encountered any sexual discrimination - either that, or I've been
very insensitive (to it)!"
But though Mrs Chua has not come under any glass ceiling in her 30-year
career, so far just over 6 per cent of all company directors in
Singapore are women, a stagnant statistic since last year.
Nevertheless, students of modern workplace culture in America have
hypothesised that The Charismatic Chief Executive is Dead.
This comes in the light of a spate of over-promoted, hyper-ambitious fat
cat CEOs given the golden handshake over the past year.
Instead, we may be looking at a new generation of leaders who are
consensus builders, who don't lead from the front but push their teams
forward, using traditional female skills such as listening.
Quite aptly then, an Alpha Female model in nature is the matriarchal
society of elephants - the biggest, strongest female, perceived as wise
and kind, keeps the group together and promotes community.
A far cry from the browbeating, chest-banging Alpha Male who typically
does not listen to any noise other than his own grunts.
And guys, if you're still following, community worker and Alpha Female
nominee Mrs
Ivy Singh-Lim has this to share, "I hate labels. If you're macho
but don't have the balls to say anything that makes a difference to the
country, then what's the point of being alpha? The alpha concept may
simply be imposed by men in the hope of making women differentiate one
man from another. But to me, all Men are simply advanced forms of
monkeys. I'd rather have a gentleman anytime."
Fellow Alpha nominee, Ms Tracy Lee, deputy editor of Elle magazine, was
also reluctant to take on the label.
"I don't consider myself an Alpha Female or even buy into this
concept. The words 'wise' and 'kind' remind me of my grandmother.
They're very 'maternal' words, but do people want to be babied at the
workplace? I think they'd rather be given more independence and
autonomy!"
So, male or female, it seems the Sensitive New Age Alpha is the missing
link and gamma ray of hope for a beta world ahead.
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