The Male Perspective

As this topics' roots stem from the fact that women in high powered positions is a relatively new phenomena in the corporate world, we tend to look at it from the female perspective.  We take the males' perspective into consideration of course, but as they are the majority, we focus mainly on the female point of view.

According to an article in the Globe and Mail, by Leah Eichler,  men do want to share their point of views, but are worried that they may offend women in the process and be deemed sexist.

We need to understand each other to avoid this.

"American sociologist Michael Kimmel, a leading expert on men and masculinity and co-author of The Guy’s Guide to Feminism, believes men are eager to discuss such issues but are unsure how to take part in the dialogue... What men really want to know, he said, are the new rules of engagement in the workplace. They don’t want to offend women, perhaps with unconscious sexism, but they need direction on how to avoid doing so."

She also adds that male insecurity can be part of the problem as well, and refers to Ronald Burke, professor emeritus of organization studies at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto.  The professor suggests that "... masculinity plays a role in keeping men from actively entering the discussion of gender issues at work. And a challenging economy, where some men may suffer bouts of insecurity if unable to fill the traditional role of provider, can exacerbate this issue."

An interesting point of view.  I would love to hear some male comments on this.

References

Eichler, L., (April, 2012). The Missing Voice in Workplace Gender Issues.  The Globe and Mail.  Retrieved
from:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/career-advice/the-missing-voice-in-workplace-gender-issues/article4098759/
 

Homosexuality in the Workplace

Logo for the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce

As the LGBT community as finally been accepted in the workplace in Canada over the past decade or so, the reality is that a lot of the people in the LBGT community are not out.  According to an article in the CBC News Website, the majority of the LGBT community still do not feel they are able to come out in the work place.

"Essentially, Bay Street has become more open to gays and lesbians in the past decade, says Bruce McDonald, co-founder of the Toronto-based Canadian Gay And Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
"Things in Canada are going very well," he said.
But, the atmosphere in the corridors of financial power is still not open enough to make those in the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual (LGTB) communities comfortable about disclosing their sexual orientation, KPMG's Bach said.  "The reality is that people are not out at the workplace," he said." (CBC News, 2009)

This article was written in 2009, and hopefully 4 years later, the community feel more free to be themselves.  I spoke with a few friends in the corporate world about this, and one friend said that even though he doesn't feel any hostility, he does feel there is a difference in treatment from some male co-workers, though over the years it has improved.  Another friend said, that she is open and out, and has had not issues in her office.  And while another one of my friends said he is out and accepted, he says he himself doesn't like to "put it out there", saying its irrelevant in his workplace and he just does his job and just acts like a "human interacting with other humans".  (My friends did not wish to disclose their names or their places of work in my blog)

I found this to be an interesting topic as it relates to my blog.  We always talk about how men and women interact with each other.  This gives it an extra spin on how to view things.  Thoughts?

References

CBC News, (2009).   "Opening the Door on Corporate Canada's Closet".  Retrieved from:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2009/06/24/f-gay-wprokplace-canada.html

Women Branching out into Male Dominated Fields and Vice Versa

What was once considered a gender type career, plumbing, welding, electrical, computer programmer, office administration, early childhood education and social service worker, is no longer gender specific.

JPEG retrieved from the net, depicting a woman in a male dominated industry.

Today, women are just as interested in industrial or automotive job opportunities and men appear to be more interested in taking care of children, the elderly and doing administrative work in an office environment.

So, as in my previous post, I still feel with the amount of education and experience, all people should receive equal pay not matter your gender for all jobs.

New Book Out - "Work With Me: The 8 Blindspots Between Men and Women in Business"

A new book was recently release in called Work With Me: The 8 Blindspots Between Men and Women in Business.  It is written by renowned gender intelligence expert Barbara Annis, and co-written by John Gray, the author of the highly popular book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

I have yet to read it, but found a few articles about it, one having the 8 points condensed to a one page write up.  So I will summarize that summary.

In Forbes Magazine, staff writer Susan Adams, gives an overview of this new work.  Annis and Gray refers to over 100,00o interviews with executives at about 60 different big corporations and from the workshops at various companies.  Here is what they came up with in their research.

The 8 Blindspots:

1.  Conflicting communication styles- Women need to understand that men prioritize and sequence their work and focus on results rather than on the effort to get there. Men should realize that women care about goals but they also care about the process of reaching them.

2.  Different modes of appreciation-
While women want to give credit to one another, men take as much credit as they can, without feeling slighted by colleagues for doing so. Men want their accomplishments to be acknowledged. Women, by contrast, need their efforts to be understood and appreciated on their way to achieving a goal.

3.  Women feel excluded by oblivious men-
Men and women need to grasp one another’s different approach to teamwork and stress. While women on teams want to share ideas, maintain strong working relationships and give everyone a chance to speak, men prefer to assign and prioritize work, make sure they are not duplicating one another’s efforts and that everyone is working as efficiently as possible. When it comes to stress, most men need to shut down and reenergize internally, rather than talking out their problems. By contrast, women want to lay out what’s bothering them to someone who will empathize and support them.

4.  Men feel like they walk on eggshells with women- When a woman gets emotional—even when she cries in the office—a man should acknowledge her feelings, tell her she’s a valued employee and lay out what he expects of her in the future.  Men have proved just as incapable of dealing with those women as with women who cry in performance reviews, write the authors.  Men should stop walking on eggshells and instead try empathy, supportiveness and direct communication. Women should try to curb their emotions and frame their conversations directly.

5. Men don’t know what to do when women ask lots of questions- 
Dramatic stat: 72% of men say that women ask too many questions, while 80% of women say they prefer to ask questions even when they know the answer. The authors point to studies in the investment world showing that women are more than twice as likely to be cautious and questioning while men tend to be overly confident in their decisions. The authors recommend a blending of the two styles. Men should listen when women ask questions and women should respect the male tendency to take risks.

6.   Men need to learn to listen to women and women need to understand that men’s ability to pay attention is limited- The authors say that when a man is under stress, he tends to develop tunnel vision, while a woman more naturally multitasks and finds it difficult to believe a man can’t.

7.   Women and men have different ways of expressing emotion- The authors maintain that men are as emotional as women but they tend to hide their feelings and only reveal them when they’re under high stress, and then only to close confidantes. Women, by contrast, tend to express their emotions more freely, including to strangers. Men need to listen to women’s reactions and realize that for her, expressing concern is cathartic and a path to finding a solution. Women should understand that when he focuses on a fix for the problem instead of his feelings about how the problem arose.

8.   Men and women are insensitive to each other- 
The authors offer a striking stat: 72% of women say that men are not as attentive as women to people’s feelings, situations and environment. Some 68% of men agree. But while the authors say that men tend to overlook women’s need to express feelings, ask questions and empathize on their way to reaching a goal, they also point out that women fail to read men’s behaviour accurately and to respond sensitively.

So basically, men and women are different, and we have to accept the differences and learn to adapt and not take things so personally.  Only this will prevent miscommunication in the workplace between the genders. This looks like an interesting read!!!

References

Adams, Susan, (April 2013).  8 Blind Spots Between the Sexes at Work.  Forbes Magazine.  Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/04/26/8-blind-spots-between-the-sexes-at-work/

Annis, B., Gray, J., (2013) Work With Me: The 8 Blindspots Between Men and Women in Business.  Palgrave Macmillan.

Lack of Confidence

According to Cheryl Stein, a Business Coach for Monster.ca, female managers do not have the confidence that male managers have.  In a study done by N. Scott Taylor, out of the University of New Mexico, using Multi Source Feedback, found that female managers rated themselves equally to male managers.  However, when they were asked to predict how others would rate them, they predicted a much lower rating than what the actually ratings were.  Whereas men predicted how others would rate them more accurately.  This shows that even though women are confident in their work, they are not confident in how others perceive them.

We still have a long way to go, but we can make it!!!!

 One of the biggest differences between the genders in the workplace is that women need constant approval and feedback, while men do not need the external validation.  Men don't like feedback, and don't like giving it in turn.  They don't like being criticized, and feel that women who need feedback, are "needy" and "high maintenance".  This, in turn, makes women feel as though the men withhold positive feedback in order to avoid giving women the good projects, and/or promotions.  This common misunderstanding is behind women's perception on how they are viewed in the workplace.

She suggests a couple of different solutions; gender awareness training, mentoring, and coaching.  Organizations can benefit from consulting firms that specialize in training on how to communicated with each other to get optimal productivity.  They can also benefit from implementing a mentoring program wherein successful women can mentor and champion younger women and inspire them to achieve their goals.  On coaching, she says "Establishing a coaching program where women work on feeling the intrinsic value of their work will help them get over the need for external approval. Alternately, using coaches to help the men in your organization understand how to give women the feedback that they need to excel will create winning conditions for everyone"

 References

Stein, Cheryl (2013). "Women's Style of Workplace Communication".  Retrieved from:  http://hiring.monster.ca/hr/hr-best-practices/workforce-management/hr-management-skills/womens-style-of-workplace-communication-canada.aspx

Is it Wrong that I Prefer To Work for Men?

With all of our glorious differences,  I have learned how to work for men effectively, and prefer it to working for women. I may be shooting myself in the foot by posting this publicly, however, I do prefer working for men.

I have worked, in previous positions, for both men and women, and found I was able to get out of a bind easier, ask for days off easier, if a task was missed, I could definitely get out of that easier with a male employer then with a female employer.  All I had to do was put on my "cute" act, and my male employers completely fell for it.  I didn't even try it with my female employers as I knew they wouldn't fall for it.  They know those tricks too!!! 

That is a communication style that was not mentioned in our textbook.  Both women and men know how to manipulate each other in our personal lives, so it would naturally trickle into the workplace in our relationships with our coworkers and employers.  Thoughts?

Do people hate Hillary Clinton Because She Acts Like a Man?

I have had numerous conversations about this woman, with men and women alike, and the general consensus is that they don't like her, some actually hate her.  I personally love her, if I were American I would have voted for her.  I'm excited for Clinton '16!!!

So while reading on the differences in communication styles, and researching the gender roles, or perceived gender roles, it got me thinking that she "acts like a man". Is that why all of the disdain towards this one woman, because she has the strength and confidence of a man in the professional world?  That must scare the living daylights out of everyone!!!  Thoughts?

Early campaigning for Hillary 2016!!!!!