CEO: Male vs. Female approach

“I was working at Tumblr at the time. I’d been hired along with another editor; we would be co-editors, I was told. Which was sort of true, except that I had accepted the job before we had finalised my title. I was informed, casually, that he’d chosen the title of editor-in-chief. As in: the highest possible title a person in our field could hold. (I’d gone for “executive editor”.) I had been sneak-attacked with a surprise boss, and that boss was a dude. People looked at him, not me, in meetings.”

–This is an extract from Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual (For A Sexist Workplace), by Jessica Bennett; spotted on the website of The Guardian.

We might often see similar “survival manuals” targeted at the female audience. The question is how much can women change on their own? Can the victim truly influence the predator? Can she change his behavior once and for all? The fight has been going on for a while now, and no matter how many legislative procedures and legal and social rules are modified, in most cases men who are anti-feminist will always try to find a way to justify their behavior.
The man on his own is responsible for embracing the rights and freedoms, the power and talents of a woman, in order to become capable of a respectful and fair treatment that she deserves. So, it is not a job of the potential victims to try protecting themselves or proving that they are equal to the male colleagues. It is the job of the boss. Now, how to communicate all this to the employees?

What can a male CEO do?

• Organize and chair weekly talk-sessions with the employees. Once a week invite only the male staff, and once a week mix the sexes. That way you will be able to establish a closer contact and trust with the men who will grow to respect your opinions and listen to your pro-feminist propaganda more eagerly, but also by including the women you will emphasize the importance of “togetherness” as opposed to the separatism.

• Openly show your support to women by giving them tasks that are as challenging as the tasks you give to your male employees.

What can a female CEO do?

• Do not try to be a friend-boss. You need to have an “iron-hand” to demonstrate that the gender stereotype of “soft” and “emotional” woman is not true.

• Be equally hard on male and female employees, because if men notice an obvious favoritism towards women, the feeling of unfairness and reverse discrimination will trigger only discontent and exasperation in them.

For both CEO genders:

• Be clear on your company’s values of equality, but more importantly CLOSELY MONITOR the day-to-day routines. Even the smallest actions that one may deem unimportant can be a sign that your workplace is not female-friendly. In the extract given at the beginning of this article, we can clearly see the mistake of the CEO, who on the surface seems to not prioritize men by allowing them to “choose” their own titles, but what ends up happening is unfair to the woman, while the CEO is sort of not to blame. Do not make the same mistake; take into account the small things, the unofficial actions and talk, because as long as these actions and words have even the tiniest connection to your company, IT IS YOUR BUSINESS.