Are Women Really Bad Bosses?

What is the first picture that comes to your mind when one talks of a female corporate boss? Is it that of a cold-hearted, sharp tongued Meryl Streep from Devil Wears Prada or Jennifer Aniston in horrible bosses?  Unfortunately, this is a very stereotypical notion most of us have. But don’t you think we are horribly wrong here? Thing is bad bosses are bad bosses they can be male or female, gender has got nothing to do with the attitude of the boss. . “Bad bosses see managing people as an event, rather than a process,” says Steve Pogorzelski CEO of  ClickFuel.

The evidence that bad bosses hamper productivity keeps growing: a recent survey by University Florida researchers found that people with abusive bosses are more likely to arrive late, do less work, and to take days off when they aren’t sick. According to Robert Sutton in ‘Good boss, bad boss’ the hallmark of the worst bosses is that they suffer from power poisoning: they focus on satisfying their own needs and wants, devote little or no attention to the needs and wants of their followers, and they act like the rules don’t apply to them.

Employees want bosses who are more understanding, considerate and patient and a woman in general possess all these qualities. Women, when compared to their male counterparts are more likely to empower their employees. They are also more responsible than men. Many women are working in different organizations at different positions. In fact studies suggest women have good negotiating and discussion skills which gives them an edge over men and this is the major reason why companies mostly employ women.

HR professional Riya Malik says, “In my seven years of experience I have had both male and female bosses, there were good ones and bad ones irrespective of the gender.”

Female bosses can be in a quandary, while on one hand they need to achieve the targets on the other hand they are expected to be sensitive. And when they have to adopt an authoritarian approach to get things done they are called bad bosses. The being sensitive and lenient approach at the same time does not work in most of the cases.

Let us spend less time criticising female bosses and more time supporting and being inspired by their achievements. No boss is evil to you on purpose. They just need to get the job done; chances are you might be a difficult employee to handle.

Honestly, calling women bad bosses or just differentiating leaders on the basis of gender kills the entire concept of feminism. Humans have both strengths and weaknesses as individuals, and generalizations about men and women are not as definitive as many people assume.

Image Courtesy