A clear majority of Americans prefer executives with a more collaborative and creative leadership style, and seven out of 10 associate these leadership styles with women, according to a new study by Pershing.

“It’s clear that women are contributing exciting new approaches to management and leadership,” says Kim Dellarocca, global head of practice management and segment marketing at Pershing. “However the research shows that a gap still exists between the acceptance of management style and the actual preferences in leadership choices.”

Pershing's white paper, called “Americans Crave A New Kind of Leader—And Women Are Ready to Deliver,” found that 77% attribute the traditional leadership approach of command and control to men; however, employees desire a more collaborative and creative style of management, includes employees in the financial services industry.

"Women are natural listeners with the ability to hear their clients emotionally," said Regina Meredith-Carpeni, chief operating officer with BNY Mellon Global and Capital Markets. "The more a financial advisor can connect emotionally with their client, the better the sale."

When asked about women in specific roles and occupations, the study found that a majority of Americans fall back on traditional gender roles.

"Consumers want to work with women financial advisors, but there aren't enough to go around; however, men have the opportunity to learn to serve women differently," Dellarocca told Financial Advisor magazine.

Only 30% of financial advisors are women, and female consumers want female financial advisors, says previous Pershing research.

"A woman's way of leading is an advantage when working as a financial advisor in many ways," said Dr. Vanessa Weaver, clinical psychologist and CEO of Alignment Strategies Inc. "Women often outlive their husbands, and they want to connect with a woman to discuss finances when they feel vulnerable about being a widow."

The consensus among the three female experts presenting at Pershing's gender summit on February 26 at the Times Square W Hotel in Manhattan was that women have developed a distinct style of leadership as a result of societal expectations.

"From raising a family to keeping a marriage going, women are socialized to balance multiple people and interests and to keep it moving all the time," Weaver told Financial Advisor. “It's important for a financial advisor to be empathetic, listen and connect emotionally with a client's aspirations, hopes and fears so that the person feels comfortable speaking about their financial needs. Women can be more empathic quicker."

Despite consumer demand for a new way of leading, most are not yet entirely ready to put women in positions of power.

"When push comes to shove, women are not in leadership roles, and the genders tend to go to their own corners," said Dellarocca.

Although men outnumber women in key leadership roles despite the preference for management styles that people more strongly associate with women, women are outpacing men in earning college degrees, and a greater percentage of women are becoming the primary income earner in the household.

"It's important to connect with potential women financial advisors earlier by exposing girls to the profession when they are in high school and even junior high," Meredith-Carpeni said.

While conventional wisdom says that young people are more open to new ideas, the survey revealed that the older the individual, the greater the comfort with seeing women in leadership positions.

"Younger men have less experience seeing women in the workforce in leadership positions," Dellarocca said. "Older men have seen women in a variety of roles and in roles of increasing responsibility at work."

This pattern could be a result of millennial men perceiving their female counterparts as peers.

"It's not chauvinism. It's their reality. They are accustomed to being in competition with women and more comfortable competing with women," Weaver said. "They have a different lens on how they view women than previous generations."