It has been said that working for a woman is more difficult than working for a man. I will not go into the reasons for this generalisation; they do not matter. I have always thought anyway that this could not be the case, probably due to my feminist sensibilities. But this morning when I told another friend about my run-in with the managing partner of my firm, his first question was whether the partner was a man or a woman. I thought about this on my walk to work, and I realised that I actually have had a lot of problems with female bosses.
However I have also had problems with male bosses, and I have not had problems with every female boss I have had. My mother has said that I simply have a problem with authority, which is also true.
One of the best bosses I ever had was a woman. She was a high-powered, high level executive recruiter and I worked as her secretary twice in between bouts of studying. She was demanding and difficult and no one else could work for her, but I got on with her very well because we respected each other.
The worst boss I ever had was a man. I know people who work elsewhere for him now, and they hate him too.
I am still thinking about it and I think that yes, I have had more problems with female bosses than with male bosses. I shall have to think about it some more in an effort to determine the reasons.
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8 comments:
There is still a wall of misogynic design within the workplace; no matter how 'civilized' the environment. Women 'have their place' as some of the good old boys would say and yet they hire women as signs of these laborious clubs being antiquated.
So this unspoken hostility would then carry over to the ladies that work within these confines; not much room to move around. Logic would suggest that women on the whole eat their own as a Darwinian throwback of survival of the fittest. Unfortunate but hard to not be a threat to someone who sees canon fire and troops marching on the hills with the next new woman in the office.
k
Pipe down, gay.
I've always felt that women bosses, in an attempt to be taken seriously in a traditionally male position, tend to overcompensate and, thus, become unbearable to work for.
I just love orders given by anonymous commenters. It really makes me sit at attention.
k
Watch it, DD. I have been a woman boss and I do not need to overcompensate for anything, least of all not being a man.
Again, the dangers of generalising...
Now, you wouldn't want me to hold my tongue, would you?
Not throwing rocks, Matty. My spelling is correct, just not standard American. Years of living overseas and working and studying in British English has corrupted my writing. But I find it easier to always use British than to switch back and forth for my different audiences.
If you think my spelling is weird, you should hear me talk.
DD, of course not.
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