BlogHer - women in business - Comments

Not sure on stats but...

paulag01 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:00:53 -0500

Hi Jody,

I agree with you some hard and fast statistics would be great. I haven't found a quick easy source of them (though maybe they are out there!). But it is lower overall, especially at the executive ranks of Fortune 500 firms. Someone told me a stat while at BlogHer and it went out of my head...

Personally while I have had say 14 or 15 managers/supervisors (counting 2 if I had a supervisor AND manager for instance).... only 5 of them were women. 2 directors, 2 manager level, 1 supervisory/project lead level. So even in my total informal little 17 years of corporate life poll, it is like 30%. Totally unscientific of course ;-) Just a story.

How about others -- ?

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company

http://www.thepaulagcompany.com

Percent of Women Managers/Executives?

Jody DeVere -- Ask Patty — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:14:17 -0500

Wondering how many have ever had a woman manager, boss or worked for a woman executive? Statistical data suggests the probability is low overall.

I agree male or female good leadership skills are an art form that takes years of training, education and experience to be a great.

Would be a great national survey topic!

Jody DeVere
President & CEO
AskPatty.com, Inc.
www.askpatty.com
www.certifiedfemalefriendly.com
www.jodydevere.com

I agree that it depends on the person -- not the gender

GraceGoesThruLife — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:40:58 -0500

I have to say that the best manager I ever had was a man and the worst was (sadly) a woman. So based upon my own experience, I don't agree with the statement that one gender manages better than others. For me, I think a good manager is one that is able to lead effectively and provide his/her staff with the support and guidance they need to do a good job along with providing each person new responsiblities to keep them challenged and growing in their business knowledge. But that's my own take on things.

Funny how gender complicates it all

paulag01 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:02:32 -0500

Great comments all... and I like what you add Flightkeeper that whatever gender is in the minority does have to work harder. As theomalleycats notes it is often women in that role, but in fact there are some professions where the role is reversed.

Well said Vered -- the best compliment is being known that YOU are a good manager, who really cares about the gender piece if we look at the person at what they bring to the table.

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company

http://www.thepaulagcompany.com

I agree with most of the above

Flightkeeper — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:03:37 -0500

I have had both male and female managers and had good and bad examples of both genders. I think what's more important is if your style can work with your manager's, then I'm happy. Either way I don't think gender had anything to do with it.

If there are more women managers than male managers in the work situation and vice versa I've noticed that the gender in the minority is the one who has to try harder to work the way the majority gender does.

http://flightkeeper.blogspot.com

http://cutefuncool.blogspot.com

Also has to do with the industry...

theomalleycats — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:15:25 -0500

I've worked for both female and male managers in a traditionally male-dominated, good ol' boy industry. I enjoyed working for both genders, though it seemed that women had to work harder to get further. They also had to avoid crossing the line into territory where the men were intimidated by their power. Sigh...it was all very exhausting. Fortunately, I left this company before my female manager was "let go" for reasons I'm not completely aware of. Apparently, she ruffled some feathers. But she was damn good at her job!

It's the person, not the gender

Vered — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:25:20 -0500

I really dislike this type of generalizations. They can easily backfire. I think what we women should aim for is a world that simply does not judge people based on their gender.

I don't want to be perceived as "better" because I'm a woman. I want to be perceived as better because I'm Vered and I'm a smart, talented and ambitious person.

----

Need to hire a blogger? I’m a mommy blogger and a blogger for hire.

I think he is right

Capital Mom — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:51:35 -0500

I think he is absolutely right.

As a new employee I was completely sucked in by my employer's promotion of "work-life balance", but the longer I have been around the more I know that such a thing is impossible. Correction, it is possible if you want to remain at the bottom of the ladder. Once you get into senior positions or management there is no way you can have a healthy, active family life and still preform the duties that are expected of you. Management works long hours and is expected to be on call any time of day on their Blackberry. The levels of stress I have seen among managers is insane.

I had always wanted to go into management and when I got back from my first maternity leave I was promoted into a management position. What a mistake! The hours, the stress and the irrational demands took a huge toll on me (I was pregnant again at the time) and on my family. I felt guilty all the time because after work I was too exhausted to spend any quality time with my husband or daughter.

At a certain point you do have to decide if your main focus is work or family. I don't think you can do both well. I know very few women in management positions with young kids. The women I do know that have reached senior management either don't have children or have adult children. It took me a long time to realize that while my employer talks about "work-life balance" it doesn't apply to those at the top.

I think this is an issue for all parents not just women. Fathers as well as mother have to decide what their focus is going to be. My husband has also chosen to put his family before his career and so, while he will have a "nice career", he isn't reaching for the top. I'm not anymore either.

Capital Mom

http://capitalmom.blogspot.com/

Drawing the line

NiamhG — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:05:38 -0500

Isn't the problem also that we associate success with wealth? There is so much pressure to buy houses, own clothes in greater and greater quantities that we end up working and working just to have them. This creates the kind of world where someone like Welch can make these comments and have parts of the business-world agree with him!

And like masadutoit above, where are the men in this dialogue? Kids need both their parents plus plenty of the dads I know would love the option to take paternity leave if they could. We've come a long way but there is so much further to travel...

writer on the way home

Need to Create Our Own Examples

paulag01 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:32:14 -0500

Thanks Amy for further emphasizing the point that many women are choosing by starting their own biz. An empowering choice for many, but not all are suited for or want that which is where the dilemma Wilma shares seems to leave us stuck. Wilma - perfectly said that the problem cannot be solved at the same level it was created and corporations just chase their tails trying to bandaid a solution from the same mold that created the muck in the first place. Once we get a more holistic view on all levels (the can't be solved in isolation piece) that will start to open the door I believe....and hope I see it in my lifetime.

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company

http://www.thepaulagcompany.com

Where is an example to do things differently

Wilma Ham — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:46:07 -0500

For me the problem is that we have no idea what there is to choose. There are no attractive life work choices in the current corporate world, whatever they say.
For me there is a lack of vision and examples of corporates who really are walking the talk and offer attractive life balance choices.

At the moment we do what Einstein said not to do and that is trying to solve a problem at the level it is created.
I think this all calls for a total new paradigm about what work is and means and a total different appreciation of what wealth is.

Alan Webber, formly from Fast Company has written Rules of Thumb - Winning at Business Without Losing Your Self.

We are in for big changes on every front in our lives, work is just one aspect in my point of view and hence cannot be solved in isolation.

Wilma Ham

www.wilmasblog.com

work life choice to become an entrepreneur

amyfranko — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:19:48 -0500

There's a good argument for work-life choice, because in reality that is what we're dealing with.

Each of us has a definition of balance, and ideally we make our decisions based on being centered on the balance continuum.

But people are often selecting from less-than-stellar choices.

"Work-life balance" is really about all people. You could be an adult son or daughther taking care of an aging parent, or someone caring for your spouse or sibling.

Many women though, they are voting with their feet - choosing to leave corporate life and start their own businesses, because they aren't getting good choices within their jobs.

And I hope that more women get out there and start their own businesses, because we need to use our power to make the world better!

Amy Franko

Book Yourself Solid Sales and Marketing Mentor, serving women solo service professionals

http://amyfranko.com

what is missing here for me

mashadutoit — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:48:18 -0500

What is missing here is the realisation that the business, and society in general, is losing out by making it impossible for thousands of skilled, educated, passionate, innovative people to give their best to their work.

Its not about women wanting a special break. Its about the tragic loss of potential when we are forced to make that impossible choice between life and work. We lose both ways. This is one huge cop out.

And what's more, it does not recognise the cost to men, as well. I think we should stop speaking about mothers, and start speaking about parents.

If You Don't Like the Game/Battle Choose Differently

paulag01 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:07:34 -0500

Thanks to your comments. I just smiled when I read your wording LPC "Corporate life is a battle. You can't balance your participation in a battle." Oh so true...

Lisse - I agree the game does need to start to change. The droves of small businesses being birthed, especially by women, will start to change that game as well as the things you cite.

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company

http://www.thepaulagcompany.com

Like it or not, he's right.

Lisse — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:59:14 -0500

The way the game is currently played, he's right. While we have made some incremental gains, there is still so much about the corporate working world that is not compatible with a healthy family life. And as Andrew Leonard said, it's not just a problem for women, but it is certainly why we see so many women starting their own businesses.

A decade or so ago, Fast Company Magazine began talking about things like Free Agent Nation and The Brand Called "You." With the downturn, and the "jobless recovery," I think we'll start to see this kind of talk again. As I have found in my travels, voices of experience outside a company are often worth more to executives than the voices of reason still working inside a company. You'll work hard, yes, but there will be the added benefit of making your schedule work for you.

Security and health benefits are the compelling reasons to work for a large corporation. Well, we all know what's happened to our security; if we ever get to the point where it is reasonable for the individual to purchase health insurance, it should get harder for companies to recruit.

If and when that happens, that's when you'll see the game start to change.

- Lisse

@ Home in the World: International Adoption and Other Travels