Women vs. Men -OR- Women & Men (In The Workforce) + My Experience
Girls and boys belittle each other. Women and men empower one another.
I have been wanting to write an article on my perspective of being a woman entrepreneur and my thoughts on women in the workforce. Over six months ago I began thinking about writing about this topic. My stance was slightly different then. What changed in my thinking? Current events in the United States that have brought to the surface some men that think women are less than them. It was a wakeup call. There are more men than I thought that are inappropriate with their words and/or actions towards women. Anyone that thinks a person is less than them, no matter what the reason (race, religion, sex, etc.) suffers from lack of compassion and kindness. This usually stems from low confidence and/or a scar from the past. Don’t get me wrong this issue is complex. I am generalizing. However, it is helpful to remember these people are wounded. That does not mean that we don’t stand up for ourselves or fight back, but to fight back from your heart - not your own wound. You can still be fierce while coming from your heart, in fact maybe even stronger. This is the perfect precursor to what I originally wanted to write about.
Women and men are not the same. Our physical build is unalike and our brains are wired differently. Several studies in recent years have shown that men and women have different ratios of white and gray matter in their brains and different densities of neurons, or nerve cells. The findings do not have any bearings on general intelligence, but do impact processing. Male participants tended to perform better at spatial and motor tasks, whereas female participants were on average superior at nonverbal reasoning and recognizing emotions. This does not make one sex more superior to the other, simply different. Both traits are needed and of equal importance.
The power of a woman can not be denied. The feminine energy is intuitive, connected and fierce. I read an article recently about how women give away their power through specific statements. One of the statements listed was “does that make sense?” I ask this question all the time. I love this question. It clarifies that everyone is on the same page and that there is no confusion — so work can get done and get done correctly. Another thing I heard recently was a statement saying “women should smile less.” What? Why? You can smile and be taken seriously. I see women coaching each other on how to be more like a man. Here is where I need to put on the brakes. Women, the most important thing is that YOU be YOU! You can be firm and feminine. You don’t need to be a man to be successful. Embracing masculine energy can be good and balance of the two energies is healthy. However, don’t ever be someone other than yourself. The most important and influential way of being is authentic. When you are aligned with who you are — you naturally are confident and will not let people walk over you or your ideas. You can do this while embracing the true essence of your femininity.
Being a woman is a curse and a privilege. As a woman entrepreneur I have had many men talk to me only because they were interested in pursuing me, possibly women too (but they were not as blunt). There is nothing more frustrating than walking into a meeting with a business opportunity that has large scale potential to find out that person was never really interested in hearing your proposal. It is disheartening. However, being a woman has also open doors. Once the door was open it was up to me to make sure they took me seriously or I could walk away. Now as an entrepreneur I have the opportunity to walk away. I understand that there are women in uncomfortable work situations where it is not so easy to walk away. And let’s not fool ourselves, men also have had similar experiences. No matter your gender we all deserve respect and we should work towards uplifting each other. This is a battle both men and women need to participate in.
I was gifted the wisdom from my mentor that people waste peoples time in business no matter your gender. That’s not to say that women don’t struggle with issues related to gender, but that people can be assholes and waste your time regardless of your gender/race/religion/sexual orientation/etc. The secret, ready for this?…the secret is that you have the power to walk away and not let them waste your time. Whoa. That’s powerful. If you truly believe what you bring to the table is valuable, why would you let anyone waste your time. You don’t have to play games. You can control the dynamics just as much as anyone can. YOU have power. This is an applicable for all people and all situations. Happy New Year!
