Philanthropic Entrepreneurial Women – Part 1
On Friday morning, I went to a Bisnow event discussing “Where Do Women Stand?” The food was lacking, but the panel was amazing. The panel included anchorwoman Barbara Harrison, Kiva.org & ProFounder.com co-founder Jessica Jackley, UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin, and FEED Projects Lauren Bush. I could write a few blog entries about this evnet and may end up doing so.
One of the many comments that stuck in mind was a question asking if women tend to stand in other women’s way. Unfortunately, I thought of a couple instances in my life where this has happened to me. Women have come so far in the work place arena that we should be pushing each other forward, not holding each other back.
In one of my experiences, a supervisor of mine did not allow me to excel. A few told me she was threatened, but I don’t think that was the case. As women we have the tendency to control things in our lives. As the one who runs the household, we manage and control what our families activities are, what they eat, do chores, manage finances, and the list goes on. I think that for some this tendancey moves over to their work lives as well. I know women managers who tend to be micro managing and controlling of their subordinates. I have had female friends, who have had similar experiences as well. I sit here hoping for an epihany to help those with these types of managers in their lives and can not think of a good solution.
For women managers out there, remember your employees are not your children, your partner, or your pets. As I recently read on my favorite blog – ZenHabits.net :
“Treat others as you’d want to be treated (in their place)”, but in another conception, how you treat others is how your treat yourself.
Consider: when you react to others with anger or meanness, you are putting yourself in an angry mindset, a bad mood. You’ll likely feel pretty crappy for at least an hour, if not all day.