Page 23 - WOMEN IN BUSINESS

WOMEN IN BUSINESS

The Benefits and Challenges of Working for the Same Sex

As a woman entrepreneur, you might be delighted at the prospect of working with women rather

than men, only to discover that is not all you imagined it was going to be. This is because the

kind of energy that drives one person to be a leader and another person to be a colleague working
under them tends to be a very masculine, driving sort of energy - one that even women possess.

Male versus Female Energy

Men and women possess both masculine and feminine energy. It changes in terms of balance

depending on the situation. For example, in the planning stages of a new project, feminine

energy might be at the forefront, as people allow a flow of ideas to go back and forth as to how
best to tackle the assignment. However, that flow would be of less value as the deadline

approached. Things need to be tightened up, buttoned down, and pushed through in order to meet
the deadline. Some women have more masculine energy, others more feminine. Some women

"fake it 'til they make it", thinking they have to be tougher than any man they work with. This
can lead to bullying behavior. Some women are even harder on their female colleagues than the

men, for a couple of reasons. One reason is that they are trying to toughen them up; they didn’t

have any breaks to get where they were, so why should any other woman. In other cases, it might
be due to them having climbed the ladder and wanting to pull it up after themselves,

discouraging any woman they work with from aspiring to become a leader too.

One final point which no one can really help is biology and hormones. Let’s face it. Women

change at certain times of the month each month until they reach menopause, and even the most

reasonable of bosses can become a nightmare at times. But then, so can we all. It’s important to
try not to let personal issues get in the way of professional ones, no matter which side of the desk

we are sitting on.

The Pros of Working with Women

The benefits of two women working together is that it tends to be much more team-oriented,
with a free flowing of ideas. The best bosses are those who are willing to mentor others. They are

happy to pass along their skills and don’t feel competitive if another woman joins the team.

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