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In a recent New York Times article, senior vice president and chief brand officer for the Elle Group, Carol Smith, argues that No Doubts: Women Are Better Managers. She goes on to explain that women are less bossy, more personable and more detail oriented than men. While Carol Smith may think she is on to something- I don’t think she is.
Yes, it’d be nice to pump our egos and generalize that ALL women are better managers, but its just not possible. Women and a unique, individualized group and we shouldn’t limit ourselves to a generalized stereotype. Not all women are personable, organized or detail oriented, and lots of men are. Each woman has her own personal strengths and weaknesses, just like men do and I think its really counter productive to draw such conclusions.
What Carol Smith should have done, is point out that she is speaking from her own unique experience. From her experience this generalization may be true, but in all honesty I find all this ‘which gender is better at what’ binary competition exhausting and completely detrimental to women in general because it perpetuates stereotypes that all women act the same.
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Comments
07.30.09
I think you hit the nail on the head, Nicole, re: stereotypes and generalizations. To me, it seems like that's what women have been fighting for so long. Previously, it was probably the opposite: that women couldn't be good leaders/managers. But now, tipping the scales 100% in the entire opposite direction is, as you said, also counter-productive.
There are great female managers and great male managers, just like there are bad female managers and bad male managers. I think it's impossible (nor should either gender try) to corner the market on superior management.
07.30.09
Just wanted to clarify that this awesome post was written by my sister Ashley Crimaldi, not me. Ashley has a unique perspective on female issues in the workplace as one of her college majors is Gender and Women's Studies. Connect with Ashley at @acrimaldi on Twitter!
07.30.09
Some women are good managers. Some are not. It's as if they're people.
07.30.09
I think it all comes down to generalizations. Not all men are bad managers and not all women are good managers.
In fact, from my experiences, there is a lot more covert office politics with women managers, but that's just what i've had to deal with.
It's an eye-catching headline for sure, but not necessarily always true.
07.30.09
I really dislike articles like that. They mislead you into considering a point that has more personal merit than anything. Like others I have encountered good & bad managers from both sexes & honestly I have encountered more bad managers on the women side. I guess it really depends on the work environment & a plethera of other factors but to choose sides does not make sense. By the way I love Women's Studies. It always opens your eyes to so many things.
07.31.09
I would imagine the men at the Elle Group have a strong case that Ms. Smith has created a hostile work environment, and that male employees need to be compensated as a result of her actions.
11.30.10
Some women are good managers. Some are not. It's as if they're people.
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