Women employees often make life difficult for a female boss. A secretary may refuse to work for a woman. "She's too fussy. She expects too much. She works me too hard." These are fairly common complaints, and many secretaries do indeed wind their male bosses around their little finger. They use feminine wiles to get an extended lunch hour, an extra day off, time to do Christmas shopping, and so on. The woman moving ahead, not asking such concessions for herself, may be quite impatient with these tactics and much less sym-pathetic than her male counterpart. It would be easy to say that women must pull together to help one another. But these attitudes and reactions are deeply ingrained, and the likelihood of dislodging them by exhortation is pretty small.
Thus women are advised not to be dismayed by a negative attitude from clerks and secretaries. They should expect it, at least temporarily, and simply screen out those who would find it difficult to work for them. Happily, the more mature secretary is less likely to behave this way, and because of her maturity she'll probably be a better secretary. So the woman manager should allow a little more time for search, hiring temporary employees to fill in if needed while she looks for a suitable person. She might keep a list of women who appear capable so that she is not starting from zero when an opening occurs.
As for the professional woman working for a woman manager, she'll probably feel more comfortable with both men and women in the work unit.
Here are two recommendations for women: emotionalism usually indicates sensitivity, so it should be capitalized on; and the emotions should be channeled into some productive activity that will benefit the company:
- Capitalize on sensitivity. Helping men recognize the feelings expressed (often in an indirect fashion) by their male associates is an important part of manager training. They are taught that any message comes in two parts-the feeling and the information-and that if one deals with the feeling first, there's a better chance for joint constructive thinking about the information. If a woman is skilled at recognizing feelings in others, she has an advantage. Carl Rogers and the nondirective counselors could be studied, as well as Norman Maier's approach to the problem-solving interview.1
- Let the group help. If a woman finds herself becoming emotional or irrational or projecting too much from personal feelings and she knows the people with whom she's dealing very well, she should stop talking, look at the group, and say, "I seem to be emotional on this subject. I wonder why? What affected me? I must think about this." This may bring about a confrontation within the group that will help everyone, including the woman. A male manager aware that a woman employee is becoming overly emotional shouldn't say, "Stop being emotional, Kay. We have to make a rational decision here!" That will merely put Kay on the defensive. He could say instead, "Let me see if I can state your feelings on this so that we'll be sure to take them into account here." Then he should do so. This probably gives him the best chance to deal with the situation effectively and move Kay on to a more constructive approach.
Inevitably, the day will come in a firm when some woman with managerial interests and abilities will be appointed to a supervisory post and men will be working for her.
Here are a few suggestions for this woman to help her over this difficult hurdle:
Entertain the man and his wife. It's often difficult for a man to explain to his wife that he works for a woman. So as soon as possible, his boss should entertain the members of her staff with their wives or husbands so that they get to know her personally. Once they become aware of her competence, they will understand why she warrants a responsible position. She should also let the wives know-in specific terms-how capable their husbands are.
Demonstrate interest in the man's longer-term career. As soon after her appointment as possible, a woman manager ought to sit down with each person who reports to her to explore his career interests and assure him of her personal wish to help him display his best capabilities. This helps the man realize that his tenure under her is not a "life sentence" and that she intends to promote his interests actively.
Give employees visibility among higher-level management. Whenever one of her employees does an especially good piece of work, she would do well to create an opportunity for him to explain it to her boss. She should urge her superior and her associates to deal directly with employees on matters in which they have expertise. She needn't insist on all things being channeled through her. She could send samples of good work or complimentary letters to upper management and make sure the employee involved knows she's done it.
Move employees on to better jobs. She should single out employees with potential to do better work and, when they're ready for upward advancement, help them to better positions. This establishes her reputation as a source of excellent promotable people even though it places an extra training burden on her.
Keep your femininity. A woman can let employees know she is tough-minded enough to help them grow and enhance the reputation of the organization without being tough for its own sake. Like any other good manager, she should display warmth and appreciation of human values. She should be considerate of employees' time. She can make them feel welcome in her office, and she can go to their work areas when that is more appropriate. She can find a pleasant word or two to say in a chance meeting and can remember to inquire about families and personal interests.
Play no favorites. She must be absolutely fair in her treatment of subordinates. She needn't lean over backward to accommodate men at the expense of women but should treat both with respect and warmth.
In short, a woman can be a manager on her own terms, using her personal strengths and acting out of her own clearly communicated philosophy.
