NYT Decrees, Women ‘Better Managers’ Than Men
In a reprise of Sonia Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comments, the New York Times has settled the age-old debate about who makes better office managers. “No Doubts: Women are Better Managers” announces the July 26 headline.
To resolve the galloping debate, the NYT editors summoned Carol Smith, senior vice president for the Elle Group. In case you haven’t made the acquaintance, the Elle Group woos new members with the breathless claim it will “enrich your life, pamper your body, nurture your spirit, accelerate your business, and celebrate your soul.” Sorry, no men allowed.
Ms. Smith is possessed of an uncanny, indeed unfathomable acumen such that she is able to dispense with the usual accoutrements of objective inquiry, so no need to do an employee survey or commission a national poll. It’s what they call a woman’s intuition.
Here’s Ms. Smith at her most lucid: “In my experience, female bosses tend to be better managers, better advisers, mentors, rational thinkers.” Why? Because “Men love to hear themselves talk.”
(In my time hanging around the office water cooler, female workers do far more conversing than men. But who am I to doubt Ms. Smith’s firm grasp on reality?)
Oh, and women are terrific list-makers. “They will do their to-do list. They will prioritize their to-do list. They will get through their to-do list,” Smith compulsively writes.
That’s right guys, forget that aspiration of getting an MBA, all you need to do is pull out pencil and paper and start making lists!
“Hands down women are better. There’s no contest,” Smith zestfully concludes. And lest she come across as a smug know-it-all, “I want less of that self-righteousness,” she avers.
I hate to differ with the erudite pronouncements of Ms. Smith, but my experience has been of a different ilk. I well recall a female co-worker who whispered to me in the hallway, “I can’t stand working for women!” Her female supervisor micromanaged and publicly berated her for every shortcoming, imagined and real, to the point she had to go to the union with a harassment complaint.
My personal you-won’t-believe-this story involved an office where women outnumbered men three to one. My supervisor, a female, had hand-picked all the women. On good-hair days, she would refer to her staff as “my dysfunctional family.” On bad days, staff would hole up in their offices, waiting for the storm to blow over. She was eventually forced into retirement by senior management. And yes, she was good at making lists.
What do polls of female employees show?
Three years ago the publishing company Vault did a Gender Issues in the Workplace Survey. The results shocked many: Only 9% of women said they preferred to work for a woman, while three times that number, 28%, preferred a male boss. The majority of respondents had no preference. One woman explained, “Men are generally more decisive, quicker, and focused in their decisions. Women approach work with more emotion than men.”
A similar survey by Harper’s Bazaar queried 500 English professional women working in finance, media, and healthcare. A majority – 60% — of these high-status women stated their preference for male bosses. Seven out of 10 admitted they would be delighted to see a female colleague fail, and 86% said they would flirt with a male co-worker if it would boost their job prospects.
Maybe the Sisterhood isn’t all it’s been made out to be.
When men of an earlier era engaged in such unabashed buffoonery, they were derided as chauvinist Neanderthals. So thank goodness we have Carol Smith’s screwball humor to relieve the workday tedium for the rest of us.
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August 2nd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I’ve worked mostly for women since college and I recently got back into a situation where I’m working for a guy and mostly with guys. I forgot how sane most men are and it really made me realize just how unsuited women are to leadership. The world is a far better place when women are primarily concerned with being good wives and mothers and men are in charge at work.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
In general, men and women have certain strengths that work for different areas not because of anythign inherent, I believe, but because of gender roles though it’s changing. Certain jobs require certain strengths and certain ways of doing things (there are many ways to skin a cat, we just don’t always use them). Polls or articles like these are useless.
In my field of work (restaurant/bar/hospitality), though, the male managers didn’t seem to know how to deal with people and would never listen to input, would even act offended. They’d also mess up schedules, forget important dates, would keep tips instead of giving them to the cooks (managers aren’t supposed to do that), and throw temper-tantrums. One I had sat down for lunch (righ in front of the customers!!!) and when somebody came out with a problem, he slammed his fork down and hit the kitchen door open because he felt he shouldn’t be bothered when he ate (why?).
In my experience with bars, more often than not they’ll try to sleep with you (especially men 40+). They’ll spend the entire time flirting with you and not even “haha, funny” but weirdo stuff (I had one place I left after 4 days because he kept saying inappropriate things and then slapped my rear-end. My friend had a pitcher dump on her shirt by him). If you don’t sleep with them, you get passive-agressive insults, are told to “lighten up”, and then sometimes have your hours cut. Such a huge sense of entitlement to the point where I look into the background of the place to see if there are complaints about that stuff.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:22 am
hmmm i don’t think so being a women i prefer mail boss and recent studies has shown most men and women prefer mail bosses
http://www.ceveni.com/2009/08/which-boss-you-prefer-male-or-female.html
http://www.onepoll.com/press-archive/Most-women-prefer-working-for-men
i think above studies shed some light
August 28th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Eesh. In my experience in the legal industry, men were almost ALWAYS better bosses than women. Female lawyers and “supervising” paralegals were generally power-drunk, nasty, vicious-tempered souls who played the Supremacy Game–in other words, more concerned with proving themselves the “top dog” than with actually doing their jobs. Don’t ever question them; it’s personal.
Male bosses were almost always straightforward with me: Here’s what I expect from you; if you accomplish it, good job, and if you exceed it, you get rewarded. They were a lot less concerned with “office politics” and more concerned with completing the objectives. Approach them rationally, and they respond.
I think they also appreciated the fact that I didn’t consider myself a “natural superior”, and respected the chain of command–and that they could give me something to do and it’d get done. Male bosses are generally a lot more interested in performance than in conformity. They saw me at meetings and when I was there to accept or turn in assignments, and that was about it.
And never, never once did any of them hit on me. I guess it was because I made it clear by my dress and actions that I was 100% professional.
That’s just my thoughts. Sad situation that people to this day cling to the sexist notion that “female = better”.
(By the way, who ever said females are more compassionate? When it comes to bullying, a boy will just kick your butt…but a girl will destroy your confidence and reputation. Which is “nicer”?)
August 28th, 2009 at 5:11 am
(In re the above, which I unfortunately can’t edit now: Before the feminists decide to propose that I’m ugly or something and that THAT is why no male boss hit on me, that’s not what my husband says–or anyone else who’s seen me or a picture of me. The word most often applied: “hot.” So the mean girls can skip that allegation.)