Don’t Be OnThe Swamp War Sidelines
I came up with the concept of Swamp Wars about two years ago. It stemmed from my work experiences and for a while I thought it was unique to my industry because we have so many classic Alligator Slayers. But as I wrote this series of articles (Swamp Wars and The Rachel Letter) the national political conventions were held and politics fills the “news” media. Over the past year, I’ve seen huge similarities between what I experienced at work and what I see happening in our politics. I am now convinced that Swamp Wars is more than just my unique work experience – it is part of our society. Swamp Wars is a recent phenomenon and something women need to understand because it is having a significant impact on our ability to advance at work.
How to Use the Rachel Letter To End Swamp Wars
In the season 3 finale and the season 4 premier of Friends, Ross and Rachel decide to get back together. But Rachel has one condition – she writes Ross a long letter in which she describes everything that went wrong with the relationship and Ross has to accept full responsibility. Ross, anxious to get back together with Rachel lies and says he read the letter – twice – and agrees to everything in the letter. As he learns what he agreed to he is unable to keep up the charade. Ross finally comes clean and admits that he fell asleep reading the letter – it was 18 pages long – front and back!
Women understand Rachel’s letter. It is a pure pink female masterpiece – long, citing every incident no matter how trivial in exacting detail.
Believe it or not our ability to write these types of letters comes in handy when working with men. I have written several business “Rachel letters.” It is one of the few times I get to venture towards the Pink end of the spectrum and frolic in my female characteristics with abandon.
Swamp Wars – The Battle for Status
Last week while I was in that semiconscious state of falling asleep with the TV on, I heard the TV characters talking about Odysseus and how he was the classic hero. The characters went on to discuss how humans love heroes. Then one character questioned the other “What do heroes always need?” The answer was “Problems. We have to have problems so we can have heroes.” That’s when I bolted upright and said out loud – “That’s what I always talk about!”
Years ago, I first wrote about my version of Odysseus – the Great American Alligator Slayer. In our society he is our traditional hero. He is strong, dominating and intimidating. In most companies he is found in Operations departments – the “make it happen” departments. When we are up to our waists in alligators (problems) he is who we look to, to slay the alligators.
But in recent years, our classic hero has been challenged for his top status. In my article Baby Boomer Men – Status Driven, I discussed that there are now 3 additional groups of men – Planners, Geeks and Intellectuals – who also believe they should enjoy the top rung on the status ladder.
Because I already named two of these four groups of men as Great American Alligator Slayers and Swamp Drainers, I’ve decided to have a little fun and call this new battle for status “Swamp Wars.”
50 Years To Work – More Than Enough Time to Have It All
When women entered the workplace in the 1970’s there was so much talk about women doing it all and the conflict of having a career and raising a family. Growing up in that era, it seemed we had such a short time to get it all done. We grew up hearing about working 30 years and retiring with a pension. The retirement age was 60. Life expectancy for men was 68 and for women 76.
Today life expectancy is 78 for men and 82 for women. My mother is 89. Baby boomers who were raised expecting to retire by 60 are now retiring at 65 and 67. Baby boomers who are younger than 55, can now expect their full retirement age (based on Social Security) to be 70…at least.
Wow – 50 years – that’s a long time to work!
