Are you a talented professional woman who feels a bit stuck or frustrated at work? Maybe you simply don’t understand your male co-workers and bosses — or they don’t understand you.
You are not alone, even the most astute professionals are often shocked at how much they don’t know about their male co-workers — and how much this knowledge gap affects them.
You may be asking: Why must women be the ones to analyze — and perhaps change — their work behavior in light of what men think? Actually, it’s vital for both sexes to understand what “the other half” is thinking. The truth is that men and women often approach a broad range of business issues very differently.
Because more men hold executive jobs, women, who want to avoid hidden traps and break through the glass ceiling, need to know how to shape the way men perceive them. Thankfully, those perceptions can be managed.
For example, one problem for women arises from the way men view personal feelings at work. The male brain has the enviable ability to essentially switch off emotions when desired — in part because it’s hard for a man to think clearly in the face of emotion.
The expectation that people shut down personal feelings at work has become one of men’s subconscious, “unwritten rules.” When men see a worker taking criticism personally, seeming to push too hard for his or her ideas, or having a personality conflict, they automatically view that worker as less business-savvy and less experienced, or as someone who operates on emotion, not logic.
The science is clear, for example, that although the female brain isn’t designed to compartmentalize personal feelings the same way a man’s brain does, a woman can — if she chooses — force a calm demeanor when she is starting to feel defensive. Once we are aware of these obstacles, they can be overcome.
While women should take things less personally and consider how men might view their approach, some women take this too far — and try to be just like men. But if it's not genuine, that behavior could hurt her chances for advancement.
"You don't have to act like a man to succeed in business, for you will always be judged as a woman." Pat Heim
Source: The New York Times, February 6, 2011
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