The purpose of the article is to discuss in what way stereotype notions of leadership and male and female leaders mig affect executive´s conditions and changes of working on equal terms, irrespective of what sex they are. By means of a study of Swedish county council administration managers, which was carried out using three different methods, the author has found that male and female administration managers look at their executive work in a similar way, but still seem to accomplish their tasks differently. Also, women are generally seen as being of less authority than men. The author holds, however, that this may be an effect of people´s forming an opinion of male and female leaders respectively on the basis of their own expectations.