Bossy females less likely to shine in boardroom

London: Bossy females are much less likely to shine in the boardroom, though they are more than a match for any of their male counterparts.

When these `alpha females` try to `act like a man` and behave aggressively, people working under them are much less likely to cooperate, says a new study. University of London researchers found that such aggressive women in the boardroom can become confrontational and actually annoy colleagues and achieve less. They would do better by relying on typical feminine qualities of sensitivity and good communication, the Daily Mail reports. Researchers studied the management styles of senior professionals within five NHS hospitals but say their findings could be applied to any profession. Their results showed that some senior female managers had moved away from what was called `healthy assertiveness` and were instead attempting to `emulate aggressive male models`. Prof Paula Nicolson, University of London, said: "The best managers had more `emotional intelligence`. But women who were trying to behave like they thought men behaved were the ones who got it wrong. "It`s almost like women feel they must `act like a man` and overly develop traits often associated with power-hungry City traders." IANS