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The bottom line is that gender differences with regard to leadership, even if significant, are slight. There seems to be little mileage in pursuing this as a specific research direction, unless gender is couched as a social identity rather than as a biological binary relationship.
…a conception of the leader as someone who defines organizational reality through the articulation of a vision, and the generation of strategies to realize that vision.
Charismatic leadership really is a function of the whole situation. It is leader identity, leader behaviour, follower identity, sociocultural context and organizational setting all working together concurrently.
While equilibrium is achieved between followers and leaders, leadership will be sustained. When it begins to become unbalanced, that is, leaders and followers are providing too little and/or taking too much, then the relationship ultimately has to be renegotiated.
It’s important to recognize that you cannot train leaders. You can, however, help to develop certain behaviours and skills that can assist individuals in leading others. Training in interpersonal communication skills, presentation skills, decision-making skills and facilitation skills can be very helpful. But these are merely means to an end. Many leaders have got by without fully developing these skills. What’s really important is the ability continually to learn from your experiences.