Women Leaders and Firm Performance: Unpacking the Effect of Gender and Trust: An Abstract

This paper explores the role of gender and its influence on the relationship between trust and organizational performance as well as on the perception of women as managers. As we recognize the barriers implicit in gender roles, this research helps to highlight the need to build greater trust in leadership and organizations. Understanding how differently men perceive women, compared to how women perceive women, is key to achieving the levels of trust, confidence, and support for the organization’s strategic initiatives. We argue that the more positive the perception of women as managers, the stronger the relationship between trust and organizational performance and that this relationship is moderated by gender.