Women Are Bad Bosses?
I saw this a couple of days ago and wondered whether to share it. I have strong—but mixed—feelings about it. The gist:
Two-thirds of women said they preferred a male boss because their straight-talking, ‘get to the point’ attitude makes them easier to deal with …About 3,000 men and women were questioned for the research, with three- quarters of men agreeing that they would rather work for a man than a woman…
… David Brown, of online recruitment firm www.UKJobs.net, which commissioned the research, said: “Incredibly both men and women are in total agreement that men make better bosses – 63 per cent of women and 75 per cent of men. This indicates that while women are more than capable of progressing to a management role, some lack some of the key skills required to be a good boss. No one is suggesting that women aren’t intelligent enough to be in senior positions, far from it, but perhaps some need to be more approachable and less competitive.”
On gut reaction, I’m inclined to agree with this, but I also bristle at the perception that women are less effective in top jobs because they are women. A female manager is clearly going to bring different qualities to a job than a male would. Not all of these will be good for business. Some will, some won’t.
I was especially insulted by the sidebar listing of the “Male Assets” that give them an advantage in managerial positions:
- Straight-talking
- Less likely to get involved in office politics
- Easier to reason with
- Less likely to [complain] about others
- Less likely to suffer from mood swings
- Able to leave their private life at home
- No “time of the month”
- More likely to share common interests
- Don't feel threatened if others are good at their jobs
- More reasonable
I mean, really! Can you all help me come up with some “Female Assets” that enable women to be better bosses than men? (The ones listed are a little lame: “more approachable, friendly and understand when workers need time off to look after their children.”)
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Jun '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I think men mix up the pace a little more. They can be hard-driving when it's appropriate, but also relax when appropriate. Women tend to go at one speed. Mixing it up is more natural. That's what I take from my limited experience.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Women Hate Each Other (my catchphrase on another site). But stereotypes have some basis. As an auditor (basically a financial gumshoe, meaning "listener" in Latin), I encounter this all the time. Women in an office will tell you absolutely anything ... that reflects poorly on another woman in the office.
I wonder if this survey was skewed by the women in the sample. Like the enigma of the Divine Sarah, men are more comfortable being bossed by a woman than women are. And both women and men are cool with being bossed by a man.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I really don't think there is much difference. once an exec gets to a certain level, he or she knows how to be effective or they wouldn't be there. My experience is that: a) woman have a different thinking process so that time can be lost creating a common understanding on complex business problem solution design. b) Tend to be more controlling so can be less fun to work with.
Both of the above are generalities easily countered. I really don't think that sex is a big deal factor in comparison to culture or other factors.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I have mixed feelings about this, as my very first mentor and then my very first business partner, were both women. I live part of my professional life in the marketing sector and its not unusual for me to be in a meeting with my staff plus the client staff and be the only man in the room. However, based on 35+ years of observing corporate North America, I'd say the following.
Women are every bit as capable as men in almost all fields and have a marked edge in areas such as marketing and sales. They are disproportionately represented among the top achievers in each of those areas. But in my experience women make very poor mentors, especially of young women. Most young women have no interest in being mentored by a female no matter how senior. They instinctively know that they won't get what they need and will be regarded as competitors, no matter how ridiculous their relative positions make that premise. Women are also terrible at networking and most especially the reciprocity required to fulfill the obligations of mutual networking.
And finally, women are terrible practitioners of corporate politics and it sets them back.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Interesting. I'm with you, Ursula. My first response is to hesitatingly agree with it...until I read the list of male assets. If they want to generalize then here we go...
Less likely to suffer from monthly mood swings...Men decompensate without enough sex.
Less likely to get involved with office politics...Men are more likely to have affairs with their support staff or sexually harass them.
Able to leave their private life at home...Ha!
More likely to share common interests...If the authors of this "study" consider men as simple then only liking...say sports, hunting and sex...then I guess it's easy to share interests.
Don't feel threatened if others are good at their jobs...As long as they're not shorter than 5'9".
The first part of the summary makes sense, but the over-generalized "assets" is stupid. I think part of it is that you find more male bosses in the work force, so, by default, you have more good ones in anyone's sample size of experiences. It's hard to get an accurate depiction with a skewed ratio like that.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I think it depends on the field, also. Female lawyers were a bear to work with, but females in the health care field were innovative, interesting, dynamic and made excellent mentors. I worked with more men and fewer women in law. I worked with far more women and fewer men in health care.
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I'm self-employed, and therefore technically my own boss, and I must say my boss is indeed hypercritical, lazy, inefficient, disorganized, unable to leave her private life at home, prone to mood swings, hyper-competitive, and consumed with office politics (these involve a lot of catfights). So there's one data point for you. I'd bridle at the charge that I'm not straight-talking, though.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I have been dating a liberal feminist for 6 months now (she gets really mad when I laugh at her knee-jerk liberal multi-culti feminism) and she would say that these impressions (and any truths behind the stereotypes) are due to the oppression of women in the world. Until recently, they were not only considered not equal, but they were trained (home-ec in school, e.g.) to be domestic and servile.
I believe that this has some merit. Mostly that successful women think they need what they see as "male characterisitics". I think the root of it though is that those women are carrying the impression that men in power are oppresive, sexist, favoritists, and it manifests in the stereotypical woman in power.
I just got sick writing that...
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Dammit, Andrea, of course men are more likely to have affairs with support staff, because women are more likely to be support staff. Love happens in the darnedest places, and who can explain it? Besides, without harrassment, I'd never get a date (I kid, um, sort of).
More relevant than the lame editorializing about Male Assets (I decline to comment on Female Assets, as Ursula is trying to lure us with her girly feminine wily sorceress tricks), is the survey itself. Which I think says that the lack of female bosses is due to the attitudes of underlings rather than the attributes of said bosses. It's tough to lead when a good chunk of the office starts out resenting you.
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
In my workplace, there are only men (and me, of course). And since they'll all probably read this, I really shouldn't point out all the fallacies on the list of male assets :)
Although I will say this: one really positive thing I found working under female leadership is that they seem to seek out and welcome the ideas of female subordinates more than men do. Also, in work meetings led by women, everyone who has something to say is listened to, whereas in meetings led by men, the loudest or most aggressive personalities tend to hold the floor.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Who said anything about love? I had male support staff and I managed to leave my libido at home. He was far moodier than me, too.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Wimp.
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Diane Ellis, Ed.:
Although I will say this: one really positive thing I found working under female leadership is that they seem to seek out and welcome the ideas of female subordinates more than men do. Also, in work meetings led by women, everyone who has something to say is listened to, whereas in meetings led by men, the loudest or most aggressive personalities tend to hold the floor. · Aug 14 at 11:47am
I think that's true in a group setting or unless a woman's talent stands out. One thing I noticed with men, though, was I had to speak faster and use fewer words or they moved on. But once a good leader recognizes talent I think they are very loyal regardless of gender. It's possible women give everyone the benefit of the doubt that they're potentially smart and capable, whereas men assume everyone's mediocre until proven otherwise.
Jun '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I'm not buying any of this argument. One's political predisposition is much more indicative than his or her sex. I find conservatives much more judicial, fair, and willing to listen to opposing viewpoints. I've had some terrible experiences with liberal bosses of both sexes. They will stoop to the most vile sort of character assassination to silence dissent. It's not enough to destroy a career; they frequently seek to destroy the reputation of someone as well.
Aug '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Men on average have unwarranted self-confidence; women, on average, unwarranted self-doubt.
Maybe that's why Women Hate Each Other (they don't when there are no men to compete for -- then all is love): they worry about being out-competed much more than men do (men typically just assume they've got what it takes to win).
I haven't had enough bosses to see a male-vs-female pattern. Cognitively, I'm male -- meaning my strengths (spatial skills) and weaknesses (inattention to detail) are characteristically male. A man I'm working with is usually quicker to understand me, but he's also quicker to insist that his Big Idea is better than my Big Idea. Women typically take longer to "get" me, but seem more open to my Big Ideas while they attend to details. The latter's actually a pretty nice arrangement.
We females, whatever our assets, can't wholly avoid the biological reality that we're walking uteri with udders, brains and souls attached. Our job as animals is to die, if necessary, in childbirth, and to nurse -- to turn our own bodies into feedbags. Biologically, we have something more important to do than lead.
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Ohhhh, *DO* tell! Can I take you to coffee next time you are on the East Coast? Pulleezze? I'm dying to hear all the dirt on ..... Oh, wait a minute .... maybe I'm "likely to get involved in office politics" if I encourage this. Oops.
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Wow! Totally fascinating, Paules! You are making me think through every boss I've had since I was 22, trying to figure out a political pattern. But you know what? You might be right!!!! Hey everyone, what do you think of this idea? Valid or no?
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
I have nothing more than simple anecdotes, but what my wife and our women friends have relayed does support that women, in fact, do prefer male bosses. Also, one of the more interesting insights I have received from a diversity training expert is that study after study of workplaces indicates strongly that younger, Gen-X and Gen-Y females conflict strongly with Baby Boomer females. The conclusion reported to me (and one that I agree with) is that Baby Boom women (who were encouraged or felt compelled to place career ambitions above all else) have a short supply of patience for younger women who aren't willing to make that trade-off (the younger women are in search of that work-life "balance" - which I'm not sure even exists). For what it's worth, I think the phenomenon Ursula is discussing is probably more of a generational thing than anything inherent in male or female circuitry.
But then again, I'm a guy - what do I know?
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Andrea Ryan
Wimp. · Aug 14 at 12:01pm
Well, you got me, Kennedy; I was being un-"straight-talking" again. Seriously, though, I was kind of hoping people would come up with stuff like "More likely to notice and nurture a diamond-in-the-rough" or "More likely to notice who's lazy, using up work time on Facebook, and wasting client money" or something. I think there's a lot that you all HAVE noticed. Midget is onto something with the unwarranted self-confidence vs. self-doubt thing. All this aside, I know I'd make a poor boss, for many of the reasons stated above. I am too terrified of hurting people's feelings to be a straight-talker, I'm surprised when someone is competitive instead of expecting it, I wring my hands for weeks before asking for a raise/carving out territory and then back down at the first sign of hesitation. This is why I really think there's something to this ... but I'm also sort of offended, too...
May '10
Re: Women Are Bad Bosses?
Andrea Ryan
Who said anything about love? I had male support staff and I managed to leave my libido at home. He was far moodier than me, too. · Aug 14 at 11:57am
Yeah, but you were married. To a guy that could kill a man for snorin too loud. Office affairs happen because single people who spend most of their time together develop attractions. Didn't ever disrupt much, and may have even helped, communication-wise. Dissolutions of my affairs tend to be disappointingly lacking in drama.