Female bosses - your opinion?
Do you have a preference for male vs. female bosses? If so, why?
I'd also be interested in your opinion of this new website dedicated to women business leaders - www.vjournal.com
Thanks for commenting, I appreciate your feedback.
I'd also be interested in your opinion of this new website dedicated to women business leaders - www.vjournal.com
Thanks for commenting, I appreciate your feedback.
Hi Natalee,
I have to say, I've been managed by both men and women, and I find no real disparaging differences between the two. Having worked in IT for about 14 years (everything from systems admin to desktop support and help desk), I found that just when I would get a bit of a different between being managed by a man and a woman, a boss comes along who throws a monkey wrench into my hypothesis. I worked for several years at an insurance conglomerate in their IT department (doing technical support), and I had a total of three bosses - two women and a man - throughout my career there. My first boss, a woman named Michelle, was very down-to-earth and laid-back. She would spend time "in the trenches" so to speak with all of us, and made herself very visible as "one of the gang." When she was promoted and we took on a new boss, Cheryl, the climate dramatically changed - for the worse. Cheryl was the total polar opposite of Michelle. Where Michelle was funny, honest and laid back, Cheryl was dry, humorless and very "by the book." After engineering a co-worker's termination (long story), the department merged with another service desk, and I got a new manager - a man - Andrew. I really liked Andrew. He reminded me of Michelle, but a little less laid-back. Being at a new company for the past 4 months now, I have another guy as my manager - Steve. He's very funny, cool, friendly and really inspires a sense of comaraderie and teamwork within our 13-person team. He inspires us to attain new heights of excellent customer service, and really pushes us to be our best. I don't really have a preference over a male or female manager. A lot of people say I'm the consumate employee - I come in, I do my job to the absolute best of my abilities, give 110% daily and only speak when I have something worth saying. Of course, I've had conflicts with managers in the past. At one job I worked for 1 1/2 years, a co-worker of mine (female) came across printouts of an instant message conversation our manager, Paula, had with a fellow co-worker (one of her employees), bashing myself and the girl in question, Zulma. I did not say anything to Paula about the conversation, as I didn't want to get Zulma in trouble. I did, however, hand a copy of the IM chat to an HR rep upon my exit interview. My basic outlook is, I respect you, you respect me. Plain and simple. I don't look for anything other than that. Why did I hunt down this blog? Because I love the show "Startup Junkies." You've inspired me to start my own business with a friend from work. Go Natalee!!!
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Female Boss:
I have worked for only two females over my 25 year career. One of them was a total psycho and only had her position because her husband was the President. The other was actually a very good boss and I learned quite a bit from her. From my limited experience, I don't think I can say which is better or which I prefer. I can work for anyone as long as they are willing to listen, don't micro-manage and give me the authority and responsibility to do my job.
Why I tracked you down:
I saw the Startup Junkies, which I continue to watch. Went on their site and noticed you were no longer the CMO. I was curious as to why and Googled you and came across your blog. I hope to gain insight, ideas and/or advice on how to market start ups. You have an impressive resume and I am always looking to learn from those that have done it. I hope I can learn how to do marketing better, cheaper, faster and of course more effective.
Thanks!
Mael
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Re. differences between men and women as boss: Big difference I see is women managers defend their turf more, they have a lower tolerance then men in this area. Male managers tend to pick their fights. On the plus side, women managers tend to see the bigger picture. The worst boss I had was male mainly because he focused entirely on details. Male managers also tend to use intimidation vs. leadership. This all said I find the workplace to be dysfunctional. I work independently now, could not be happier. I will never have a boss ever again, male or female.
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I have worked for both me and a women. I prefer working with women, they are less cocky and are actually not as emotional as most men I have worked for. Sounds strange, but true!!!
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Male perspective:
Being female shouldn't have anything to do with business. However, I have noticed that some of the wrong females are making it to the top. Some female bosses actually go out of their way to be difficult, aggressive, and assertive, instead of just being themselves. These kinds of leaders tend to over manage employees.
I've worked with great female bosses and terrible female bosses. I can tell you the great bosses don't even make me realize they are female. From what I could see, Natalee is tough, and assertive, but she is neither difficult nor aggressive. In fact, she lets her people do their job and is there when they run into road blocks.
I know I’d like to work for her someday! Not because she’s female…but because she’s a great boss and wants her TEAM to succeed. -Matthew
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Thanks Matthew - hopefully the people who have worked with me feel that way!
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I have been in the Software space for 12 years and have had two female bosses. Both were a fairly bad experience for me. One was VP os sales and had no prior sales experience. She got the job because she had an affair with the President. Prior to that she was trade show manager. On top of that, she seemingly liked surrounding herself with inept people, and tried to take down people that were more talented. The the other was just relentless on trying to defend her turf in an overly zealous and unproductive way.
I find that women tend to get caught of in the emotions of how THEY feel about competing with men which sometimes affects their performance and judgement. They just get caught up in it all far too much. This is a generalization and doesnt fit the bill for all of them but more than i have experiencd with men. I have had my share of useless male managers that are empty suits, but is a diffeent scenrio.
I will say that while I think most women managers because of this are not as good of managers as men, the ones that do know how to handle it, are actually much better than most of the men out there. Again, the commonality with them was for them to not get caught up in how they feel about their competitiveness with men, but being focused on being a good manager that enables their employees and adding value to the organization.
I went to your site because I tohught you were an asset to the Earth Class Mail team, was disappointed to see you go so I looked you up. It just said that you had left due to a car accident and was hoping you were truly ok. You are very talented and fit in the "exceptional" category in my opinion.
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Though I have never actually worked for anyone other than myself, I would like to think that working for a female would be no different than working for a male. That said, I could see how many people may have a very different opinion on this. I think if a boss is fair, treats their employees well, and _deserves_ the position they are in, their gender should not matter. Unfortunately it seems many people, regardless of sex, end up in a position of power when they are not qualified or equipped to handle being in a management position. Some of these people are just promoted so that their bosses no longer have to deal with them anymore.
I initially came across your blog when I saw your post on the Start-Up Junkies forum on MojoHD.com. I'm always looking to learn more about the different aspects of running a business from other peoples points of view. As a small business owner myself I like to look for advice from people who have "been there, done that" and actually have the experience to back up what they are saying, ie: you. What am I looking for that you could supply? I guess I already said it, but any advice you can provide is much appreciated!
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Very good topic - very complex question.
Let me preface by saying that I believe a woman can do everything I can do, just as good, if not better, and about 5 more things that I suck at
That said, I agree with the comment that said that many of the wrong types of women are making it to the top. With one major exception of a female boss whom I truly admired and considered a mentor, most of my female managers have been lackluster. They have all been physically attractive for some reason - not an ugly one in the group. Co-incidence? Maybe. With that one exception, I felt the others were trying to "out-guy" the guys and were never confident in their abilities. Many of their decisions didn't stem from confidence and experience. They were right there with the guys, running the marathons, swilling the booze but didn't make great decisions.
I think women have it very tough in the business world - and in our society with mindsets in transition - they hit this decision point in their 30s of whether they want to focus on their careers or build families. Many who take door 1, I have found, are somewhat resentful or at least un-settled about their decision and it shows.
I think the long term solution is for us men to step up and load-balance the family-building role to provide a greater level of equality and peace of mind for all. What's the average tenure at jobs these days - 2 years? So maybe we switch off with our partners - 2 years on and 2 years off. In the "off" years, we work from home, try to start home-based businesses and "sharpen the saw" in ways other than on the job corporate training.
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I have spent the last 15 years as a "c" level Executive Assistant. I can tell you that I have made the choice to never again support a "high level" woman. I will only work for men. I find that women are no longer women at this level, they are "she-men".....they try to act like me (unsuccessfully)and franly men are easier and more compassionate to work for....
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