Don’t man up but “act like a woman” to get ahead at work, the president of the Girls’ School Association has said.
Heather Hanbury has argued that being an empathetic “team player” is better for business than the traditional “alpha male” model of leadership, and this approach comes more naturally to girls.
Professionals looking to get ahead should “act like women” at work, the leading headteacher has said, claiming that everyone benefits from the spread of “feminine” skills.
She said: “The world would certainly be a more generous, happier place with more empathy, sympathy and collaboration in it.
“Research shows time and again that tapping into these ‘soft skills’ that align with feminine qualities, delivers improved results across the board: in the world of work and of politics.
Firstly, if that were human experience then we’ve been having power skirts for long enough that they should have outcompeted every other form of workplace leadership already.
The second is that actual observation of groups of men and groups of women leads to a slightly different conclusion. Men will fight – actively or metaphorically – to see who is top dog and once the alpha is identified settle down to that place in the hierarchy. Observation suggests that women continue to fight like cats in sacks.
This empathetic and cooperative idea of female management is a bit like the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, no?
‘Don’t man up but “act like a woman” to get ahead at work’
I wish I’d known this before I retired. I could have had more savings and a bigger pension if I’d let my boss bum me in his office. Too late now.
But isn’t the empathic, ‘soft’, collaborative woman a stereotype pushed by the patriarchy to keep women in certain roles, and specifically to stop them from getting into serious leadership?
Or have I been listening to the wrong sort of feminist?
Men cooperate to protect the tribe, women compete for male attention. Doesn’t matter how may times you say it, feminists insist it’s the opposite.
Steve Crook,
There’s no such thing as the right sort of feminist.
Actually, she’s probably correct – but almost certainly doesn’t realise why.
Women should “act like women” at work, snag the best man they can find, then be wife and mother.
No shit, Sherlock.
I’m off shopping for a power skirt and will be bitchy to everyone else in the office from now on. Should make me a shoe-in for promotion.
I always find it sad that after billions of years of evolution, you still get people like this…
If there is a God, she must be bald by now.
As a counter point I offer you the NHS – nearly 80% female staffed and the biggest sh*tstorm possible…….
I’d lay odds that if you replaced every single woman in an NHS managerial role with a man that the whole thing would operate far better with exactly the same budgets.
Forgive me if I am reluctant to take business advice from a schoolteacher….
Every feminised profession is a cluster
Teaching (esp primary)
Medicine
NHS ‘management’
HR
Customer services
Social services
Every woman manager with just one man? That would probably work too…
@Jimmers
In my dealings with the NHS it’s clear that the overwhelming majority of staff is female and most of the management is also female
Which may explain the ludicrously complex appointments system , the Byzantine shift system and the inability of anyone to consistently work anywhere for more than a couple of hours.
Roué le Jour-
yes agree. High cooperation is technically a Beta trait, and to be top leader you better have a lot of it. It doesn’t negate a hierarchy though. What the headmistress is referring to as alpha is actually striving for the top (or highest possible or highest in some sort of niche), and once there using it.
“Heather Hanbury has argued that being an empathetic “team player” ”
Says no one whose seen how women treat each other in the workplace.
Also, I thought being that way was what put women at a disadvantage in the workplace and thus we xouldn’t allow people to negotiate salaries anymore.
Also, also, I thought women and men were identical and interchangeable
Men will fight – actively or metaphorically – to see who is top dog and once the alpha is identified settle down to that place in the hierarchy.
To some degree of settlement; the hierarchy is always being tested and acceptance of it is provisional. Because the consequences of male battles can be drastic to the point of group endangerment, they tend to be suppressed and intermittent. There’s always some degree of conflict and positioning going on even in rigid structures like the military. Clever alphas will manipulate these struggles to maintain their dominance.
@ Jim
The budgets would be smaller too
Have a friend that once worked for the nurses union dealing with labour disputes issues, often said you wouldn’t believe the crap he had to deal with and how vindictive and petty women were in a group
Also I’ve always found even some alpha types to be supportive when dealing with family issues outside work, empathy and shared experience (like losing a parent) aren’t unique to women. They may not want to sit down and talk to you, but the practical stuff like time off etc makes a big difference in these situations.
My theory’s it’s evolved. Hardwired in. Men are hunters who hunted in groups. Teamwork. To do that, you literally have to see the other’s point of view. The prey’s view of you. Where the other hunters are & their view of the prey & the prey’s view of them.
Women are gatherers. Gathering is competitive. Who gets to the root first. Whose sharp elbows enables keeping the root. Getting the root without the others seeing you’ve got it.
You surprised at the outcome?
Teamwork maximises the reward of hunting.
The ideal gathering team is one. Or as we say in Spanish, sola.
The ideal gathering team is one.
Not when there are predators around.
Seen plenty of men, in groups, act like women in my days as a stage techie. Comes with the musical theatre territory.
NoThankYou… The amount of vicious backstabbing and Old Grudges, and…..
You really want to miss out on that in the workplace..
As for the Powerskirt for Men… It’s been around for literally centuries.
The great plaid ( no… not the poncy modern “kilt”-skirts….) wear great, and work fine.
For daily/informal use wearing it with a saex and targe works fine, sword ( model to taste/actual proficiency ) optional for more formal affairs and tough negotiations.
The fact that wearing it scares away the Snowflakes, and attracts actual women is a bonus.
@Grikath
For hot climates maybe. Otherwise pretty well everyone wore leggings of some sort. And boots. Even the Romans when the operated in Britain. Did the Jockish ever wear kilts? Before the Union? The current style’s a Victorian thing, isn’t it? So’s the silly little dagger in the sock fetish.
“My theory’s it’s evolved. Hardwired in. Men are hunters who hunted in groups. Teamwork. To do that, you literally have to see the other’s point of view. The prey’s view of you. Where the other hunters are & their view of the prey & the prey’s view of them.
Women are gatherers. Gathering is competitive. Who gets to the root first. Whose sharp elbows enables keeping the root. Getting the root without the others seeing you’ve got it.”
Thats always been my reading of our evolution. It turns the usual feminist ‘men are competitive and individualist/woman are collaborative and empathetic’ line on its head. The reality is that women pretend to be collaborative while stabbing each other in the back to improve their own status/situation, men are largely collaborative with just a few alpha males who butt heads until one gains dominance, and are quite capable of seeing things from different points of view.
Ah, BiS but that’s the Jockish Myth, innit?
As if the Highland jocks were the only ones wearing plaids, and did so barefoot without any creature comforts or common sense, because they’re that dead’ard and stuff. Especially when bragging to the poncy english.
They didn’t. Plaids were worn by many celtic and germanic tribes, and further on well into the early medieval period. In many varying styles, but all variants on the big stretch of fabric that you fold and tie around you. Because it works
And they were worn with pants/hosen/thigh-high knitted/naalbinded socks, or anything leather/skin.
Many variations, often ruled by culture/availability/necessity, but only an idiot would go trudging through brambles or anything else with thorns on without adequate leg protection.
A state of affairs that continued even when the plaid was mostly replaced by the tunic. Same principle..
Sort of the same for footwear. Grass sandals have been around since forever. So have laced leather/skin wraparounds. The roman galigula is a direct derivation of the tabbed wraparound, but the model is still traditional/rural footwear in many places.
And the past, present, and future gods only know how long turn-shoes have been around, they keep finding earlier examples, but Ötzi certainly wore them. And they were not simple foot wrappings, but soled shoes out of several types of leather.
Bugger the Jocks and their Myffology, and the Poms that soaked it up as Gospel Truth…
Just because they want to be seen as hair-shirted ded’ard faux-barbarians, I can’t wear my plaid in comfort? I have Thoughts about that..
And as for “cold”… A plaid is a surprisingly warm and versatile piece of clothing, even in winter. Especially if you’ve shelved out for the correct cloth weight, and not the flimsy stuff that passes as “quality fabric” nowadays. And only two folds away from turning into a long skirt, or mantle, or… if the weather gets really nasty.
But.. Who in his right mind would go out in dog’s weather unless absolutely necessary in any form of clothes to begin with?
Men: Just get the job done, be flexible, flout rules
Women: Stay safe, conform, job not important
@Jim (x2), @Jimmers
Spot on
I’ve worked in almost exclusively female (higher ed) and almost exclusively male (broking and investment banking) workplaces and I’ve come to the conclusion that a good mix of males and females is preferable.
In the female dominated workplaces there is an unbelievable level of bitchiness and back stabbing that goes on. Women treat each other appallingly. In the make dominated workplaces there was an oversupply of dick measuring idiots who were nauseatingly arrogant.
In places where there was a good mix it’s been good fun, plenty of banter and people mostly just get on with things.
“I’ve worked in almost exclusively female (higher ed) and almost exclusively male (broking and investment banking) workplaces and I’ve come to the conclusion that a good mix of males and females is preferable.”
Your example of an all male work environment is not that representative – ultra competitive men will gravitate to highly paid jobs like banking, so yes those predominantly male workplaces will involve a lot of pissing contests as all the would-be alphas butt heads with each other. If you looked at more average jobs that are predominantly male (all the trades for example) you’ll find a far greater range of types of men who manage to rub along OK together pretty well.