![]() ![]() ![]() Why call attention to problems when there’s important work to be done? Whiners and complainers can be seen as victims. Some women feel that speaking out will reinforce stereotypes about women being weak. The potential for creating an image of women as both competent and likeable takes a hit. But relationships based on concealment do not bode well for long-term success. Sometimes unmarried women hide their concerns and competence because they do not want to appear to compete with potential dating partners. The price of that kind of acceptance is decreased respect for everyone in their O category. One of the ways people who are in the numerical minority (I call them O’s) get accepted into groups of otherwise all X’s is to be seen as “having a good sense of humor.” That means laughing at jokes the X’s tell about O’s. Co-workers sometimes bond and share useful information in informal settings. True or not, believing it increases FOSO, as competent women face pressures, depending on their life and career stage: Without changing these underlying structural circumstances, we are stuck with common attitudinal explanations that appear to make inequity inevitable.įor example, an often-cited research finding is that woman can be viewed as competent or as likeable–but not both. ![]() She was tough, a scientist.įear of Speaking Out (FOSO) is unfortunately common, especially in settings where women (or minorities) are unusual, few in numbers, uncertain of their future opportunities, and not yet firmly in power. She didn’t want to become known as a troublemaker. She didn’t want to be accused of having no sense of humor. “Why don’t you tell him to stop?” she was asked. Power brings the ability to trade favors” “Power is the antidote to abuses of power. scientist-CEO to fret about this during packed days of market-building was distracting and productivity-draining. But the board majority supported this young male financial whiz. Every time she heard it, she cringed, and felt his casual naming was a step away from rejecting her ideas or asking her for coffee. For example, a female tech genius CEO in a promising startup privately railed against a member of her investor-dominated all-male board of directors. As I showed in my book Confidence, organizations on “winning streaks” thrive on a culture of respect, which underlies speed and innovation, while “losing streaks” are full of secret anger, shunning people who are different, and rejecting ideas. Will that be enough to create positive work environments? I’m also concerned about lingering micro-insults that arrive in a less overtly sexual guise, often shrugged off as too trivial to mention, and yet have a dampening effect on productivity and innovation. Businesses are reacting by firing the worst offenders and beefing up formal channels for complaint. Prominent women are joining the #MeToo moment, feeling safety in numbers as they reveal facing egregious bullying. The Harvey Weinstein horror show has brought attention to previously unspoken abuses of male power to sexually harass and suppress women. ![]()
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