Cambodia, like many countries around the world, has seen an increase in women empowerment initiatives. This includes empowering more women to take on leadership positions at work, which are still predominantly filled by men.

There is no evidence to support that men are better leaders, rather multiple studies have shown that in most cases gender has no impact on leadership, while some even suggested that women are more effective leaders.

Hence, it would make more sense for men to adopt more effective leadership traits more commonly found in women rather than encourage women to act like male leaders. Below are some leadership lessons men can learn from women:

1. Know your limit

Currently, many workplaces promote people who boast assertiveness, boldness, and confidence to leadership positions. Much of these qualities are associated with men, and while self-confidence is important, too much of these qualities can lead to arrogance, taking credit for others’ achievements, and other aggressive behavior. It is far more important to have self-awareness.

Although women are not as insecure as the normal stereotypes would suggest, they are generally less overconfident, more open-minded, and receptive to constructive feedback. As a result, they learn and improve their competency and performance faster. In a logical world, we would promote capable rather than confident people into leadership roles. So men who are critical of themselves can become better leaders than men who are just arrogant.

2. Put others before yourself

It’s hard to imagine a team becoming high-performing if the leader is self-centered. Female leaders are shown to be more people-oriented, able to coach or mentor a subordinate, using feedback and observation to help their team members grow. This also means they are more open to hiring people who are better than themselves because they don’t see themselves as being above. This shows how a less self-centered leadership could build a better team.

3. Lead with empathy

Modern-day leadership calls for leaders who can establish an emotional connection with their followers. We often tell women that they cannot lead effectively because they are too kind and caring.

Current demand proved otherwise, in fact, the only thing that prevents leadership roles to be completely replaced by machines and A.I. is although technical and hard skills can be encoded into machines, so long as there are humans in the workforce, the ability to appreciate, and validate and empathize can only still be reciprocated by another human being. Men can, therefore, learn these skills by watching and following in women’s footsteps.

4. Stay humble

A crucial aspect of leadership is humility. Without humility, it will be hard for a person to acknowledge a mistake, learn from it, be open to other people’s perspective and be flexible. Studies have shown that it is more prevalent in females than males.

Although anyone can be humble and demonstrates humility, we often disregard both men and women who expressed it and glorify those who boast overconfidence. This must change if we want to have more effective leaders within our institutions.