The One Thing Female Bosses Must Do To Succeed In A World Of Men
How to rise, and stay, above the boys.
Jacob Lund | Canva Women are finally getting the recognition they deserve in the workplace and being promoted to higher and higher positions. The number of women bosses is slowly rising, and while Fortune 500 companies are seeing the slowest growth in their top management, smaller businesses are run by women than ever before.
It may seem intuitive that women bosses have skills to help them communicate that men are simply not taught. That's because they do! And that can be a great thing. As the American Psychological Association pointed out in a report about men and women in leadership roles, "Not all workplaces are alike: [Women's] participatory style may backfire in traditional male settings such as the military or organized sports. Conversely, the command-and-control style more typical of men may backfire in a social-service agency or retail outlet."
In order to know how to get promoted, as a woman, it's important need to know what makes women different from men in their leadership style, so they can adjust to what their unique workplace needs. The truth is that men and women are often different because our brains are biologically different (note: different does not mean better or worse — just not the same.)
The one thing female bosses must do to succeed in a world of men
As such, they have different ways of approaching leadership situations. Former Senior VP of YourTango Experts Melanie Gorman asked a group of Experts what advice they would give female bosses on creating harmony in the workplace. The responses from our team of Experts — Debra Dupree, Carolyn Mein, John Gray, and Hans Stahlschmidt — offer suggestions for how to be a true leader, without being resented.
Their suggestions boil down to one thing: communication with your employees about their needs. In essence, if women want to get promoted and achieve their career goals, they need to pay attention. When workers feel like their boss cares about them and wants them to grow, they will be better employees.
So find out your employees' strengths and interests, and let them talk about their frustrations and successes. If they feel wanted, needed, and important to the team, they will be more likely to work in harmony. Setting their (female!) boss up for success, too.
Dr. Carolyn L. Mein is a chiropractic physician who developed the 25-body type system as a way to help her patients attain and maintain their ideal weight and energy levels.
Estee Kahn is a writer, amateur photographer, and contributor to YourTango. Her bylines have also appeared on Huffington Post and Yahoo.
Debra Dupree is a doctor of psychology licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist and is the founder of Relationships At Work.
Dr. John Gray is a leading relationship expert whose books, including Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus have sold over 50 million copies in 50 languages in 150 countries.
Hans Stahlschmidt has been a psychologist in Germany for many years and has now been in the US practicing for over 3 decades.