Why Can't a Woman be More Like a Man?
Why Can't a Woman be More Like a Man?
PROFESSOR HIGGINS:
Why can’t a woman be more like a man?
Men are so honest, so thoroughly square.
Eternally noble, historically fair.
Who, when you win, will always give your back a pat.
What can’t a woman be like that?
This is question many men continue to ask themselves.
However, in her book Hardball For Woman, Pat Hiem challenges this idea by saying, “You don't have to act like a man to succeed in business for you will always be judged as a woman.”
How true, how true!
We all know women who have had some degree of success only to make the mistake of taking on male attributes. Instead of becoming assertive and persuasive they become aggressive and intolerant of ideas different from their own. We call these women with sharp elbows – and the truth is that behaving like a man doesn’t work.
Successful women executives understand what it takes to get ahead. They make it their business to understand the male business mind at work and consequently don’t make common mistakes that will interfere with their career progress.
Why Women Leaders Don't Want to Be Like a Man.
A recent study by Caliper, a Princeton-based management consulting firm, compared the leadership style of women and men, specifically focusing on personality qualities and underlying gender difference. The results show:
Women leaders possess strong people skills that enable them to read situations accurately and take in information from all sides.
This willingness to see all sides of a situation enhances their persuasive ability. They can zero in on someone’s objections or concerns, weigh them appropriately, address them effectively and incorporate them into the grander scheme of things.
These women were able to bring others around to their point of view or alter their own point of view – depending upon the circumstances and information they uncover. They can do this because they genuinely understand and care about where others are coming from so that the people they are leading feel MORE understood, supported and valued.
The males leaders, on the other hand, differed considerably. They:
Tended to start from their own point of view. Because they were not flexible or willing to take the time to interact with others, the male leaders tended to force their perspective and tried to convince others through the strength of their position, rather than actual persuasion.
"The male leaders," says Dr. Greenberg, "ran the risk of not necessarily convincing people to agree with them so much as pushing their point of view."
The difference in leadership styles between men and women starts with listening.
Not just listening to form an answer, but really listening, learning to probe effectively. In essence, good leaders learn the “art of the question.” After all leadership is basically about developing relationships and the ability to get things done through others.
Here is what one of my clients has to say,
“Barb has had me practicing effective listening and probing skills for over a year and it is amazing to see how this has become part of my management style. I continue to be surprised by the number of people who have commented on my ability to help individuals and groups clarify their own positions. I’ve also learned to encourage people to participate who otherwise would not.
"Barb often talks about the 3 C’s – the necessity of “Connecting” with others -- to build and enhance relationships; to ask succinct and probing questions in order to “Clarify” the situation – to fully understand an issue. You can see the importance once you understand that without Connecting, without Clarifying you cannot gain “Commitment”. PJ
As this client says, this is not a skill that is developed overnight - but there is no time like the present to get started. Consider coaching. You'll learn new skills and increase your career success.
Why Cant a Woman be More Like a Man - To learn more about this author, visit Barb McEwen's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
In My Fair Lady, Henry Higgins laments, “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?”
PROFESSOR HIGGINS:
Why can’t a woman be more like a man?
Men are so honest, so thoroughly square.
Eternally noble, historically fair.
Who, when you win, will always give your back a pat.
What can’t a woman be like that?
This is question many men continue to ask themselves.
However, in her book Hardball For Woman, Pat Hiem challenges this idea by saying, “You don't have to act like a man to succeed in business for you will always be judged as a woman.”
How true, how true!
We all know women who have had some degree of success only to make the mistake of taking on male attributes. Instead of becoming assertive and persuasive they become aggressive and intolerant of ideas different from their own. We call these women with sharp elbows – and the truth is that behaving like a man doesn’t work.
Successful women executives understand what it takes to get ahead. They make it their business to understand the male business mind at work and consequently don’t make common mistakes that will interfere with their career progress.
Why Women Leaders Don't Want to Be Like a Man.
A recent study by Caliper, a Princeton-based management consulting firm, compared the leadership style of women and men, specifically focusing on personality qualities and underlying gender difference. The results show:
Women leaders possess strong people skills that enable them to read situations accurately and take in information from all sides.
This willingness to see all sides of a situation enhances their persuasive ability. They can zero in on someone’s objections or concerns, weigh them appropriately, address them effectively and incorporate them into the grander scheme of things.
These women were able to bring others around to their point of view or alter their own point of view – depending upon the circumstances and information they uncover. They can do this because they genuinely understand and care about where others are coming from so that the people they are leading feel MORE understood, supported and valued.
The males leaders, on the other hand, differed considerably. They:
Tended to start from their own point of view. Because they were not flexible or willing to take the time to interact with others, the male leaders tended to force their perspective and tried to convince others through the strength of their position, rather than actual persuasion.
"The male leaders," says Dr. Greenberg, "ran the risk of not necessarily convincing people to agree with them so much as pushing their point of view."
The difference in leadership styles between men and women starts with listening.
Not just listening to form an answer, but really listening, learning to probe effectively. In essence, good leaders learn the “art of the question.” After all leadership is basically about developing relationships and the ability to get things done through others.
Here is what one of my clients has to say,
“Barb has had me practicing effective listening and probing skills for over a year and it is amazing to see how this has become part of my management style. I continue to be surprised by the number of people who have commented on my ability to help individuals and groups clarify their own positions. I’ve also learned to encourage people to participate who otherwise would not.
"Barb often talks about the 3 C’s – the necessity of “Connecting” with others -- to build and enhance relationships; to ask succinct and probing questions in order to “Clarify” the situation – to fully understand an issue. You can see the importance once you understand that without Connecting, without Clarifying you cannot gain “Commitment”. PJ
As this client says, this is not a skill that is developed overnight - but there is no time like the present to get started. Consider coaching. You'll learn new skills and increase your career success.
Why Cant a Woman be More Like a Man - To learn more about this author, visit Barb McEwen's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
| |||
 |
No article feedback found. | ||
|
Leave Your Feedback | ||
|
|||
 Parable on Leadership Wisdom
| |||
| The Wise Woman and the King. |
|||
|
Women Angry At Work
| |||
 I know it doesn’t seem fair, but getting angry at work can be good if you’re a man and bad if you’re a woman. |
|||
|
Are You Too Big for Your Britches?
| |||
| I have seen, to my dismay, many women in business put themselves upon a pedestal and snub peers whom they consider to be of no use to their business. They feel that they are more of a true woman business owner than ... |
|||
|
Wonder Woman Wannabe?
| |||
| Belief is such an important part of the Law of Attraction. Belief begins with believing in yourself. Sometimes it can be hard believing in yourself. There have been those giving you feedback all your life. Some of t... |
|||
|
A Woman\'s Edge In Sales
| |||
| A woman has a decided advantage as sales representative over her male counterpart. |
|||
| |||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
 Barb McEwen (Visit Barb's Website) Barb McEwen assists people to hone their leadership and management skills. She has over thirteen years of proven experience coaching high potential individuals to improved performance and promotion. Check out Barb's website at www. 2020executivecoaching.com or call Toll Free: 1-866-822-3122.
|  |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 |
 Business vs Personal English Woman business success Working From Home Trainning Template |
|
 | ||
 |
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts
Best Posts for Bloggers | |
 |
Top 50 Debt Blogs
Learn To Get Out Of Debt | |
| ||
 |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
