Would you rather work for a man or a woman? What’s the difference?
A recently released Gallup poll found that a higher percentage of women over men would rather have a male boss than a female one.
You read that right. Women have a problem working for other women.
The way I see it there are two (of many) ways of looking at this:
- Women are evil and hate on each other.
- Men are okay with women in power (or at least more okay with it than women.)
We can’t dwell on number one for too long because that would make us part of the problem. If we criticise these women who are hating on each other it’s a bit of a Catch-22 situation isn’t it?
So let’s celebrate the second conclusion from these statistics. Men are catching on to the fact that powerful women in the workplace can be a good thing, a very good thing
Here’s why…
Last year, Zeneger Folkman, an American company that studies leadership, found that women rated higher than men on 12 out of 16 attributes tested. After analyzing 7,280 of their clients’ performance evaluations, they found two traits where women outscored men significantly: taking initiative and driving results.
There study concluded that there were five essentially feminine characteristics driving this trend:
- Better communication – Men communicate through action rather than conversation. Women are more discussion orientated, a vital skill for managing employees and customers.
- Better community builders. With this world of the connected Internet, “beta managers” that know how to build cooperative relationships, are becoming more successful than traditional “alpha managers.”
- Stronger business ethics. Running a small business is a minefield of ethical choices. When pushed to the limit, too many owners do the wrong thing and run askew of their own ethical (and sometimes legal) standards. A strong moral code will help business owners deal with these types of challenges.
- More patience. Women are far more patient with employees than men. They are less likely to jump to an immediate conclusion or make a quick decision or take action too soon. The study showed that women are willing to wait longer for a desired result.
- Better at activating passion. Passion builds loyalty. Motivate your employees, and they’ll in turn be passionate about your product or service and company.
So there you have it. A female boss doesn’t sound like such a bad thing, does it? Hopefully by the next survey women will have caught on to what men already know. When it comes to business, you’re better off being a woman.
What do you think? Do you prefer working with men or women? Have you ever had a horrible boss? Share your horror stories in the comments!
Dr Joanna Martin: Founder, oneofmany.co.uk.| Author| Women’s Speaker| Entrepreneur| Ex-doctor| Loud Sister| Baby Wrangler = No professional training but do a fine job nonetheless!
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