Women and Careers Tip 3

Tip Number 3 for women who want to advance in their careers!

TIP 3:

Treat Men as Equals

You may think that sounds daft but I have worked around a number of women who, often without realising it, defer to men at work. They will even not demur if a man interrupts them when making a serious point or presentation (see this article for how often that happens!) That clearly has implications for their professional development and how they are seen by colleagues.

Senior, not Better

It is particularly noticeable with senior men in an organisation. Sometimes men will take a paternal attitude towards younger women coming through the management system. This can result in women taking on a childlike role and deferring to the senior male. It is quite likely that this scenario will be related to the relationships that the women have experienced with their own fathers or significant males in their lives. The dynamics of that relationship may well be played out in the workplace.

Not A Father Figure

So if you find yourself behaving in a different way around senior males in the organisation it might help to ask yourselves these questions:

Does he at some level remind me of my father or equivalent?

Why am I handing over my own personal power to him?

How do I act- what is different about the way I behave?

And if you find this is happening then practise giving yourself the message ‘I am as good as him. I am an adult and will behave as one’ . This article on Transactional Analysis may also be of interest.

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