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Ending the Male Leadership Myth: How Women Can Save Us from Destroying Ourselves Paperback – January 25, 2013

by Fernando Pargas (Author)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
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In Fernando Pargas’ new work, he encourages men and women to work together to usher in a better world by re-defining what real leadership is. To realize this new world, he urges men to change their Piscean masculine qualities that emphasize survival to Aquarian feminine traits that accentuate thriving. Female leadership centers on building and maintaining relationships while making the other guy look bad and blocking anything that will make him look good is what men are mostly about, he declares. "We men have lived in our own certainty for all of history,” he says. “We are so burdened by the baggage of culture, tribalism, gender, racism, ethnicity and religion that we have cut ourselves off from reality.” This better world that he envisions will be a change from the old, he argues, because men have driven the stagecoach of history down a rocky cliff too often. Women, on the other hand, are prepared to take these stagecoach reins of leadership and reorient them. And men must accept this startling new reality
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  1. Print length
    200 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    January 25, 2013
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 0.46 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1482359170
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1482359176
  7. See all details
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3.9 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Shana Rose
    5.0 out of 5 stars Women Power
    Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I must agree with Fernando Pargas that our current world of business is undergoing quite a transformation, almost an antithesis of the past. Women without a doubt exhibit more humanity and a better understanding of long-term needs. And women display far less willingness to sacrifice the future for short-term profits.

    Men take the opposite approach.

    The result? We need to distinguish between good and long-lasting results. Some of these results may seem appealing now, but they may mortgage our future and that of our children, says Pargas.

    His theme is a sober and well-argued approach. We need a new world that men and women can create together by joining differing definitions of what real leadership is.
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  • Diana María
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic read! Well written, educational and entertaining. One of the best books of the year.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    The author has used research and his experience as an international business executive, university professor and world traveller to weave an incredibly entertaining and eye opening reflection. His point is not that women are better, only that we don't give them credit for something that is innate to them, leadership. The book is funny, intelligent and easy to read. I loved it and highly recommend it to both men and women.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Mitchell R. Alegre
    1.0 out of 5 stars Lacks a clear focus
    Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2013
    This book lacks a clear focus. Sometimes it reads like a self-help book for relationships. At other times it comes across as a political diatribe. The reader should not expect much help regarding leadership. What does come across loud and clear is the author's frustration with men's stupidity. When the author does address male and female differences in leading, he misses the deeper issue. What is really missing from leadership are not females but the feminine. Our masculine-driven world devalues feminine qualities. Even women are expected to lead like men. There needs to be a balance between masculine and feminine. This balance needs to occur within each of us as well as within our society. The purpose of this book is unclear. As a result, there is not much purpose to reading this book.
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  • Bryan Carey
    3.0 out of 5 stars Are More Females the Answer?
    Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2013
    Business and government leadership could all use some much- needed change and from the perspective of this book, the most important change needed is replace male leaders with female leaders. The book spends its pages building the case for women and attempts to convince the reader that more women in leadership will mean better business and a better world in which to live.

    This book asserts that women are far underrepresented in leadership roles and more needs to be done to move business in a more feminine direction. I agree that it would be better- and fairer- if there were more women leaders overall and I agree fully that there are far too few women in high- ranking CEO and other positions. Things are changing and are moving in this direction, but there is still much work to be done before American business is fully transformed in this regard.

    So, given that my personal position is basically in line with that of the book, does that mean I'm going to give the book a high rating and enthusiastic recommendation? The answer is no, but let me first point out the books positive points. I agree, for the most part, with the chapters on tribalism and the male obsession with sports and war. Just look around and you can see the tribalism tendency with men. It is borne out in many places, the most obviously being the number of fraternal and recreational organizations for men. There are very few organizations that are exclusively female, and this helps back up the book's claims that tribalism is mostly a male phenomenon. The chapters on war and sports are also convincing, as they emphasize the competitive nature of men to be number one and win whenever possible.

    However, some of the other chapters in this book are less convincing, a little silly, and perhaps even sexist. The chapter on common sense is a good example. It is especially silly in that it tries to back up its main point by offering up some more outrageous examples of men behaving foolishly. I don't doubt that there are some men who do outrageous things, but that does not mean that men behaving foolishly is the norm. To give you an idea what I'm talking about, there is one point in the book where it presents a story of a man who grabbed a shotgun, aimed, and fired at a housefly because his constant swatting was getting him nowhere! Foolish behavior? Absolutely, but this is not normal and not representative of most men. From my own experience, for every foolish, nonsensical decision a man has made I can think of a woman who has done the same thing or even worse. The chapters on leadership and domination are equally questionable with the author doing little to convince the reader of his position and far too many generalizations about the sexes.

    Specific chapters aside, I did find some compelling arguments in this book that make it deserving of a look. First, I agree completely with the obsession about leadership in general. There is, indeed, far too much emphasis placed on leadership, seeking out leaders, building new leaders, encouraging kids to be leaders, etc. We tend to heap excess praise on leaders and sometimes give them more credit than they deserve- almost like they are morally superior to non- leaders. I have been in leadership roles most of my life, but never have I felt that my role made me a better person than others. In fact, I am very grateful for the non- leaders around me because, without them, I wouldn't have been able to achieve my goals in business. In many instances, the non- leaders were the true heroes in the organization because they saw the vision and carried it through. I also like the book's points regarding leadership balance- even if they are a little contradictory to the book's overall premise- and how it correctly points out that an equal number of men and women in control of an organization isn't necessarily ideal. In some cases, more men is better and in others, more women is better.

    This book takes the position that more women in leadership positions will save us from ourselves and it has much confidence in the female ability to lead and guide but it takes things too far. I like the general idea that more women should be in charge, but placing more females in leadership roles is NOT going to have a magic wand effect, as the book seems to promote. From my experience, women can get downright nasty- particularly with other women- when they have a leadership disagreement and their stubbornness can be unwavering. It is very naïve to think that the world will suddenly transform for the better simply by placing women in these traditionally male- dominated roles.

    Women have much to contribute both to government and business and having a larger percentage of women in these positions is certainly something for which to strive. This book takes an unbalanced approach as it attempts to build its case for turning over the CEO and vice- president corporate reigns to more women and while it does present some very good talking points, it also presents some silly, over- generalizing, and even sexist arguments that do little to build its case. More women in leadership roles might eliminate some problems, but it will introduce an entirely new set of problems. It would be very naïve to think otherwise.

    So, the bottom line on this book is that it isn't a great, inspiration read like its title leads you to believe. It does make some good points, however, and as long as you don't take certain chapters too seriously, the book is good enough to recommend.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Montana Dreaming
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I ever read!
    Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2013
    A funny, yet tremendously honest and courageous assessment, with an encouraging message for the future of society. To have a high level business executive and business professor highlight the great leadership of women is a breadth of fresh air and very timely. I highly recommend it.
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  • S Young
    3.0 out of 5 stars Mushy thinking
    Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2013
    The author suffers from the illusion that somehow just adding women to the leadership mix will make problems magically go away, but isn't able to support his hypothesis that women are less tribally oriented than men - and that consequently the evils of tribalism will be magically overcome if we just have more women leaders.

    While (of course)I support having more women in leadership positions, we shouldn't assume that women leaders are inherently less flawed then men. We MAY have different flaws, but there's no reason to believe that we are just better leaders, less tribal, less xenophobic, more focussed on the problems of humanity than those of our own neighborhood.

    It's romantic. It's appealing to think there's such a simple solution. But if it's there, the author doesn't prove it.
    One person found this helpful
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