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Article #221: Embracing the Feminine in the Workplace

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Bang! Bang! My shiny metal cap gun and process and relationship and
sounded as I fired at the imaginary tribe connection," writes Matthew Gilbert in
of Indians invading my suburban Atlanta his book Communications Miracles at Work.
backyard. Two houses down the street, my A more feminine way of communicating is
childhood friend Shelly cuddled her brand being embraced in today's workplace.
new "Chatty Cathy" baby doll. According to Gilbert, a feminine
Growing up in the 50s, our roles were communication and interaction style
clear: women gather and nest, and men includes being:
hunt and fight. I was sure that one day I More process-oriented; more patient; and
would go into business, and Shelly would more likely to see "shades of gray."
be a stay-at-home mom. Twenty years More collaborative; less turf conscious;
later, Shelly and I were both in seeking the "win-win."
business; I was working in a public Good listeners, facilitators, and
relations agency, and Shelly had landed a coaches.
terrific job in a large accounting firm. Open, sensitive, emotional, and
It was the 80s, and to succeed in empathetic.
business, Shelly had to dress and act Willing to admit mistakes and express
like a man. Shelly did well in business, concern and/or sympathy.
but at a cost. She had to mask much of Business is increasingly rewarding
her femininity. employees for people skills as much as
When Shelly's daughter enters the business skills. The reasons are simple:
business world three years from now, she not only is the rising number of women in
will find a much different working business influencing company
environment than her mother. Business is communication, so is the marketplace. As
increasingly embracing those attributes the competition for the most skilled
historically attributed to women. employees intensifies, smart companies
Hierarchy is being slowly replaced by are realizing the importance of
teamwork, goals are balanced with interpersonal skills in attracting and
process, and relationships are being retaining employees. In the future, only
valued as much as transitions. Feminine those companies that reward such
energy is slowly forcing masculine communication skills as empathy,
extremes toward the middle. authenticity, vulnerability, and mutual
The image of business today is being empowerment will survive and thrive.
altered, says futurist Faith Popcorn in Embracing the Feminine in the Workplace
her 1996 bestselling book Clicking. -- Add Two
"(Business will be) no longer seen as a The rising trend of "FemaleThink" doesn't
war to be won by trouncing the mean men need to be more like women. If
competition, but viewed as a complicated that were to happen, we would be no
mosaic to be developed, one relationship better off than we were in the 80s when
at a time." many women felt they had to act like men
In her book, Popcorn identifies a rising in order to compete in business. Instead,
trend for solving business and relational business is challenging both men and
problems with "feminine attributes" such women to seek a stronger balance between
as consensus building, sensitivity, and inner masculine and feminine energies.
intuition. Businesswomen may benefit from training
Embracing the Feminine in the Workplace in strategic planning and selling skills,
-- Add One while men in business may benefit from
She calls this new trend "FemaleThink" training in such skills as listening,
but is quick to point out it is not sensitivity to interpersonal differences,
gender specific. FemaleThink may come and giving and receiving constructive
more naturally to women, but men can feedback.
master it as well. Corporate cultures must blend the
Already, studies are showing that women feminine with the masculine. Decisions
managers are outperforming men in the must be made, but process must be
workplace (Business Week, November 20, respected. Connection must be as valued
2000). "In fact, it's becoming evident as much as competition. Leadership skills
that the most valuable skills one can must be complemented by consensus
have in twenty-first century business are building, and men and women must learn to
those that women have historically respect each others' styles and learn
possessed, those having to do with people from one another.






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