Mike
Carruthers:
You communicate differently than members of the
opposite sex. That just is. However, in the workplace it can become a problem
if you're not aware of some of these differences.
Michael
Gurian:
A big difference between men and women is that men tend
to aggressively self-promote more than women do and it helps them climb ladders.
And a lot of this is based in brain chemistry differences. Michael
Gurian, author of the book
Leadership and the Sexes… Men
will not tend as much to say, "What do you think of that?" They'll tend
to cut to the chase and say what they think and push it forward. Women will tend
to try to make the relational system work so they'll say, "Well, I think
this. But what do you think of that?" - and it doesn't lead to as much self-promotion. When
women understand this they can begin to promote their efforts and accomplishments
more to compete with men. Women also tend to communicate more with facial expressions
than men do. So
one of the things they do is they'll also nod more. And they'll have sort of filler
words like "yes" and they're nodding. And it doesn't necessarily mean
that they agree, they're basically just saying, "OK, I'm listening."
Women also tend to hold more eye contact in their conversations. This is true
all over the world - it's a fascinating difference and it can often make men uncomfortable. When
women listen to others they tend to smile more. Men
tend to squint and frown more. Really what they're doing is thinking a lot of
the time, but in that particular case it can seem aggressive to a woman.
At
somethingyoushouldknow.net
I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.
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