Balls Balls Said the Queen

If I had a set, I’d be KING!

“Balls balls” said the queen, “if I had a set I’d be king!”.  Is this how you feel sometimes?  While the sexual innuendos are now frowned upon in the work place, you still feel the double standard of FEMALE Executive sometimes. 

Is this your work culture?………A male leader enunciates and raises his voice slightly and he is authoritative. A woman? She’s being a bitch.   A male leader raises a strong dissenting opinion and he is considered bold and confident.  A woman?  She is being dramatic and needy.

Enough.  I have had enough of the finger pointing and the identification of the “issues”.  There are plenty of examples we can cite off regarding the differences between how we label men and women and the double standards that exist in the work place.   When I sat down to write this blog I wanted to contribute something relevant to the discussion.  Reading  that last paragraph again, I sound like all the other uppity up consultants that are quick to point out the examples while leaving the real questions unanswered.

Can we change this? Can we affect how men and women work together?  The answer is not sitting around having a reiteration, bitch session.  The answer is not getting both of the sexes together and telling them “not to do that”.  That brings back memories of my mom sitting me down with my sister (we clashed a bunch growing up together) and telling us to “get along or else”.

How we feel in the work force, how we work together, communicate with each other and tackle important problems as a team does not change overnight because someone pointed out it is flawed.  This is going to take some real work.  This men vs. women workplace war didn’t happen overnight.  Fixing it requires candid, open dialogue in which the rhetoric and blame game is held in check as we find the nuggets of agreement that will lead to a better working environment.

I think its possible to tailor a program that will gradually lead to changing the work place culture to something that is productive and successful.  Send me your thoughts please and lets find the change together.