A couple of days ago, I was seated with some business executives who were saying that women executives are wired differently from men executives, in that they are more emotional and reactive. I was silent in that discussion because I just wasn’t sure.
This morning, I had the opportunity of dealing with two women executives who are completely different. One, handled a very dicey situation very strategically and logically and it was resolved within minutes. The other, shocked me in that in a situation where she could have been more tactful, she simply dealt with the situation badly.
The said situation arose out of an anomaly from her staff, and when this was put to her, she simply lashed out defensively at everyone involved, then when several different people objectively pointed out to her the situation, she simply lashed out some more.
This morning, I came into the office and said good morning and she would not respond. This is a senior leader of the organization, by the way. She simply would not speak to me.
I got thinking about that discussion, days back and I thought, could it be true? Or is it more a personality issue? I generally prefer to think that women and men in business are or can be just a tough and smart and there are women to proove it.
I also prefer to think that problem solving skills are a personality rather than a gender issue. But I wonder whether that is my idealism at play?