Tag: male-dominated

  • Tell Me The Ugly Truth

    An article titled “Another Woman Makes It In Construction” caught my attention.  The article was about a woman who was retiring after a successful career in construction industry.  Cool!  As I read further into the article, I learned that her career was not as I expected.  She was the Treasurer and financial manager for a construction company and not directly involved in the construction projects.  She did not estimate projects or go out to the construction site.  I was disappointed in the article.

    Even more so, I felt misled.  The title said she was “In Construction” instead of “In the Construction Industry”.  To me being “in construction” means you have construction expertise.

    In the months since reading the article I’ve been experimenting – what response do I get if I say “I’m in construction.”  Most of the time I get a surprised look and get asked if I am a trade worker.  So I don’t think my response to the article was unreasonable.

    This article got me thinking though – How honest are we being about how women are progressing in business?  Are we painting a rosier picture than reality??  And if so, why??  (more…)

  • How Women Can Be Aggressive Enough to Get to and Survive at the Top

    We are told that to rise to the top 1% you have to be very aggressive…cutthroat even.   A week ago two billionaires –Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman – went at each other live on CNBC.  It was re-aired several times, billed as the “Clash of the Titans” or “The Battle of the Billionaires”.  It was ugly.  Commentators decided that the battle was very personal.  Is this the type of confrontation that they believe keeps women from getting to the top?  Do personal attacks make you recede and give up?

    During my construction career I witnessed a lot of these “battles” and have participated in my share of them.  It is one of the things I hated the most about my job!  They wore me down and frustrated me because I thought they were just a plain stupid waste of time and energy.  I had more important things to deal with than arbitrary posturing.  Eventually I learned better ways to react to these incidents.  (more…)

  • A Blue Zone “Motivational” Letter

    I came across a letter that I want to share with women.  This letter is VERY Blue Zone and meant to inspire the overwhelmingly male managers within the company to achieve the 2013 financial goals.  I am curious as to women’s reaction to this letter.  Does it inspire you?

    This is the actual letter – I have not changed much – I left out the company name and specific financial information.  But I did keep in all the exclamation points!     (more…)

  • 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. (more…)

  • 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!”Alligator

    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…)

  • Shades of Purple

    When we discuss women advancing their careers we cannot assume that all women have the same challenges.  Our challenges are defined by who we are and the culture of our work environment

    I introduced the Purple Zone, as an evolution beyond thinking of men and women in terms of pink and blue stereotypes; to thinking of men and women with balancing characteristics.  When we blend male (blue) and female (pink) we create purple.  I would argue that most men and women are really purple – not a homogenous, androgynous shade but a spectrum of shades spanning from a pinkish Violet to a pure Purple to a bluish Indigo.  It is up to each of use to define our shade of purple. (more…)

  • 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…)

  • Balancing Work and Family – Conflict For All

    Soccer Mom with KidsWomen 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…)

  • Men And Work Hours – It’s All About Image

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    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…)

  • How To Seize Recognition As A Woman

    One of the biggest critiques we hear is that unlike our male colleagues, we don’t self-promote enough.  We are told we need to let our managers know what we accomplish because that is what our male colleagues do and unless we do what men do, we can’t compete with them.  But this advice like so much of what we are told doesn’t work for us.  Why?  Because we are not men!  Self-promoting in order to gain recognition is a male approach.  We need to gain recognition using a female approach! (more…)

  • Stay Out Of The Blue Zone

    When women entered the workplace it was very male.  We assumed that the way men conducted business was the right way, it was the best way.  We had to fit into their way of doing things – after all that IS how business is done.

    That is the mistake women made – thinking that we had to play by men’s rules.  We were led to believe that we have to go into the Blue Zone in order to succeed in business.  As I keep saying in my articles, even today we are still told we have to act like men, engage men like men in order to climb the corporate ladder. (more…)

  • The Cult of True Womanhood

    Did you ever wonder where all this “women are weak, timid and lack self-confidence” stuff came from?  We often think of the 1950’s and the visions of the idealistic stay at home mother in her apron and pearls but it actually goes back to the period from 1820 – 1860.  This was an age when the Cult of True Womanhood thrived. (more…)

  • 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…)