Women and Leadership across the EU institutions: The Case of Viviane Reding

Viviane Reding is one of Europe’s most recognizable female leaders, having served as a Member of the European Parliament (1989–1999, 2014–2018) and the European Commission (1999–2014). From a positional leadership perspective, Reding has thus been extremely successful in holding high political offices within the EU institutions. She has also been an effective advocate for women’s leadership, “paying it forward” by actively opening doors to a new generation of women leaders. That said, this chapter primarily focuses on the behavioral leadership of Viviane Reding. In other words, while acknowledging—from a women’s leadership perspective—that the achievement of high office implies a certain degree of success, a more interesting set of insights about women’s leadership is likely to result from evaluating leadership performance and leadership style. Reding’s career is particularly interesting as it involves two very different institutions: the European Parliament and European Commission. What might be learned about women’s leadership from Reding’s experience in these two institutional arenas? How does her leadership performance differ between them? Does a leadership style appropriate for one institution carry over into the other, or are different skills needed in these different roles? To address these questions, this chapter reviews Reding’s career background and her achievements (and performance) in both the Commission and the Parliament, before drawing conclusions about her leadership style (or styles). The chapter identifies where and how Reding’s leadership was most effective and why.