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. (more…)
Category: Understanding The Male-Dominated Workplace
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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 pundits talking about Odysseus and how he was the classic hero. The pundits went on to discuss how humans love heroes. Then one pundit 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 wrote my version of the male-dominated workplace Odysseus – the Great American Alligator Slayer. 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. Whenever the workplace is up to its waist in alligators (problems) he is who we turn to – he slays the alligators and makes the problems go away. We can count on him to always comes through!!
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/Nerds and Intellectual Elites – who each believe they are worthy of the top rung on the status ladder. They want to redefine which male characteristics determine a Hero.
Since I already named two of the groups Great American Alligator Slayers and Swamp Drainers, I decided to have a little fun and call this new battle for status “Swamp Wars.” (more…)
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How Your Male Co-Workers View Your Availability
www.123rf.com 13852486 Last week Meghan Casserly of Forbes published an article – Every Man You Work With Thinks You Want to Sleep With Him. This article raised some eyebrows. Is this true? Do the men we work with look at us sexually even though we have platonic relationships? And is it true that it doesn’t matter if we are in a relationship – they still think we want to sleep with them??
Meghan has an attention getting headline and her article has some truth. But it doesn’t explain what men are really thinking and how we as women can control this situation. So, let me explain. (more…)
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Balancing Work and Family – Conflict For All
Women discuss their work and family conflicts but we often forget this is not just a female issue. The reality is that men today have many of the same family and work conflicts as their female co-workers. How many of your male co-workers and managers are divorced or have a working wife? Or have a stay at home wife who still expects her husband to share equally in raising the kids? Probably most of them.The difference with men is that they don’t talk about having to leave work for family responsibilities – they just do it – they just take off from work. Women however, talk about their conflicts. So men mask how often they leave for family responsibilities and women don’t. (more…)
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Men And Work Hours – It’s All About Image
www.123rf 41808463 When women entered the male dominated workplace we were confident we had the fortitude to climb the corporate ladder with our kids and family life slung over our shoulder. We knew we were great multi-taskers and time managers. So, there should be nothing barring us from climbing the corporate ladder to success.
But as we started climbing the ladder, we didn’t count on the changes men were making in workplace demands. Since the workplace is where men go to establish their status, they stopped valuing getting work done quickly and efficiently so you didn’t have to stay late. According to the new values, only expendable employees went home after 8 hours and worked a mere 40 hours per week. (more…)
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Understanding Baby Boomer Men And Their Drive For Status
Baby boomer men make up most of the senior management ranks. As a baby boomer myself, I grew up with these men and know what they were taught. We were raised with a societal framework that shaped our expectations for our lives.
It is important, especially for younger generations, to understand baby boomers because they have driven our society and businesses to where we are now – driven to achieve status above all else. (more…)
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Understanding Why Being A Manager Became So Important
There is a great divide between managers and the average worker which is once again gaining attention. Have you ever wondered how this came about, why there is so much animosity between the two?
The following is an explanation that I read nearly 25 years ago. What I find so interesting is that at the time this was written, there was a belief that companies were moving past these attitudes – that we were “developing a new theory of management suitable for a new era.” But as we look at the issues in Wisconsin, the 99ers versus Wall Street and accusations of class warfare, you might wonder what happened to the new theory of management.
Have we moved beyond this theory or is the split even more entrenched than ever? (more…)
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The Great American Alligator Slayer
I first wrote about the Great American Alligator Slayer © in 1991. I got the idea from thinking about how I was told to distinguish myself and get ahead at work. It is a very male concept.
As a woman, you don’t want to embrace this concept for yourself but it is important to understand it because it is still relevant. In a humorous way it explains what your male peers may be aspiring to.
As I often talk about, the male workplace produces a slew of problems and crises it must deal with and make go away. If we go back to the old analogy and equate problems to alligators, a company that is plagued with problems is “up to its waist in alligators.” So what do they do?
They hire – The Great American Alligator Slayer! (more…)
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How Men Are Taught To Solve Problems
From the example on the “Your Best Leverage” page, poor Bob has to build a wall but has no material. There is a crisis! And in the male workplace that is a cry for action! But will the male approach really solve the crisis or just lead to new problems?
Let’s look at how the guys solve the problem: (more…)
