The Boss: Gender Differences

How great is the influence of gender on the job of boss?

It is not nearly as much as women want it to be. It is no where near as much as women thought it would be. It has turned out to be nothing like women expected it to be. Women seem to not have taken their gender to the top with them.

Many women in the workplace are disappointed and disillusioned by many of the women who are bosses. New women managers seem to have assumed the worst of what we women thought were male traits as soon as they have a power base. Many young women are as bitter about their women bosses as women have ever been about their male bosses.

I think that the job itself, the lack of good role models for bosses, and the lack of training to be a boss, contribute to a gender blur from which no one benefits. Just like men, women in positions of power usually emulate the only models they know, with the same, unpleasant and unproductive results.

There are gender differences in the workplace, and in men and women bosses. Women and men do not leave gender at the office door. The first women in business with any power had to try to leave their gender at the door. They had to "neutralize" their gender. Women had to dress as men (the power suit uniform), and act as men (the tough-guy syndrome), to be taken seriously in business.

Now, it is more acceptable and more productive for women to take their gender with them to the workplace.

What do women bring to work that is unique to women? When it comes to bosses, it is hard to tell the men from the women. Women have spent so much time emulating men in business, creating a successful, male business persona, that it is tough to identify gender traits from learned business characteristics.

I feel too close to the subject to see it clearly. So, I asked a male friend of mine to comment on his experiences with both men and women bosses. His answer surprised me.

Women bosses bring a different perspective to the workplace - they bring themselves.

A woman boss, and I have had several, may or may not have a chip on her shoulder (just as a man might or might not), the difference is that a woman will deal with you straight up. No BS, no messing around, what you see is what you get. They are more open with their feelings, their agenda, their likes and dislikes, and they are willing to work with you on it.

Men, on the other hand, by and large, are more sanctimonious, self-righteous, arrogant, self-centered, and only willing to have it their own way. This is OK too, but only if they tell you up front what it is they want and then stick to it.

I accused my male friend of reading my feminist mind, but he laughed and said no.

For him it is just a fact that has been borne out over the years: men and women are different. Their difference is not necessarily bad or good, just different. He was hard on the men because he understands them better. He manages both men and women, and has been managed by both men and women. He told me that, in general, women are easier to work for and to work with, primarily for the reasons he stated above.

Of course there are exceptions to every generalization and both men and women can be different from this archetype. My male friend and I have been in business long enough to have seen the exceptions, but for the most part I think his comments go to the heart of the influence of gender on a boss.

For a long time I was the only woman in the management circle. Sometimes I saw a problem or a solution from a completely different perspective than my male colleagues. This mutually surprised us. I know that my views were sometimes influenced by my gender, as were sometimes their views. But, as a result of our collaboration my male colleagues and I were often able to craft a better solution for our business and for our people.

That is, after all, what a real boss tries to do: craft the best solution by using every available resource.

Gender is an asset. Gender can bring balance and strength to decision making. Women in business, particularly women in management and women bosses, have to stop trying to neutralize their gender. It is time to use it. Being a woman is an asset.

When women in business, especially women bosses, use their gender positively in the workplace perhaps we will be less disappointed by the results.

The Women in Business series "The Boss" will continue next week.

Copyright © 1998, 1999 by D.E. Summerville. All rights reserved.

The advice and suggestions in the Women in Business column are solely those of the author. DC Web Women assumes no responsibility for its content.

Back to Top