A Theoretical Approach to Female Team Leaders’ Boundary Work Choices

As organizations face progressively complex challenges, team leader boundary work that is relational and inclusive (i.e., work that relates to others across team boundaries and includes a wide variety of stakeholder perspectives and concerns) is more and more valued. These trends pose advantages and disadvantages for women team leaders. Although the desired leadership competencies align well with the communal qualities often attributed to and expected of women leaders, displaying boundary work behaviors that are relational and inclusive may paradoxically result in a questioning of women’s leadership competence by team members and parties external to the team. Moreover, concerns about gender stereotyping and discrimination may pressure women to adapt their boundary work behaviors to downplay or negate “femininity” as they lead. Reflective of these dilemmas, we propose that female team leaders experience conflicting internal motivations about the boundary work behaviors they display. Drawing from social role, impression management, and social identity perspectives, we examine the motives that drive women leaders to engage in or avoid boundary work that aligns with female gender roles, the contextual influences affecting the likelihood women leaders will act on these motives, and the implications of this boundary work for teams and female team leaders