I used to turn a deaf ear and did not fully believe whenever people told me they could not stand their female bosses. I thought they were just being biased. Afterall, society still thinks that females who work their way up to the top usually either sleep their way to the top or backstab everyone just to get ahead. I used to think people were such angels. How idealistic I was.
Now that I have experienced working life for several years, I find that people do have a basis for comments. I have worked under both male and female bosses, more females than males. And I find there is a difference in their style of working too. Female bosses tend to be more picky about things, male bosses are more flexible. Upon reflection, the harder parts of my working life so far had been under female bosses, the smoother part under male bosses. So perhaps what people say may be true after all.
When I was first posted out to my school to teach, it was in the middle of a merger, so the Principal was a male and at the other premises, and the Vice-Principal was a female and running the school on her own. She was autocratic and expected things done her way. I felt my hands tied behind my back as I had a lot of ideas to help improve pupils' grades but she was so inflexible. When the schools merged, we had a new Principal and Vice-Principal, both females. The Principal was nicer than the previous Vice-Principal but she chose to listen to backstabbers and did not recognise all that I did. Needless to say, my life was miserable under her.
When I entered the corporate world, I had my share of female and male bosses in the few companies I had worked in. I really suffered under the female bosses, particularly the one in my previous company. She was totally autocratic, intolerant and had very severe mood swings, or what I would call the PMS Syndrome. I had to swallow all the insults she dished out at me. If my work was not really up to par, she could just let me know which part I had gone wrong or tell me how she wanted it. She did not have to insult me by saying I did not have a brain, she could just hire a robot to work, then turned around and said not to do anything without her permission! So I got scolded by following her instructions, and also got scolded by being initiative like she asked.
Those male bosses I have worked for are pretty flexible. They seem to have better temperament and generally leave you alone as long as the work gets done. Is it because males are generally more easy-going and females are more petty? Or is it because when a female actually manage to penetrate somewhere high-ranking in a male-dominated world, she wants to do all she can to keep herself up there, even to the extent of being labelled a "bitch"?
But this is already the 21st century. Women have been out working in the society for at least half a century now. Men and women are generally thought equal. Although I hope the starting salary scale and promotion aspects can become really equal. It is unfair that men and women with the same qualifications, results, job scope and rank, the men still get higher starting salary and faster promotions. For a woman to achieve, she must work three times as much and as hard as her male counterparts. So is it any wonder that once a woman manages to achieve, she naturally becomes bossy and intolerant? Although I still find it inexcusable to just scream and insult your subordinates anytime you feel like it.
I find single, successful women the hardest to work under and work with. They are what people will classify as being "married" to their work. My mum and my married friends all said that because these women are single, they do not have the chance to enjoy a family life. There are certain things which one can only learn when one has her own family - things like tolerance, compassion, understanding, commitment, selflessness, self-sacrifice. It is hard to learn these values if you are single and by yourself, as these values can only be nurtured together with a partner. Thus if one does not know how to be compassionate or tolerant or understanding, chances are she will be very difficult to work for. A spark of truth there.
So perhaps it is true that male bosses are easier to work for. I have had bad experiences with female bosses but so far my male bosses have been pretty alright. That is not to say that all females make bad bosses. Maybe I have just not come across a good female boss.
Now that I have experienced working life for several years, I find that people do have a basis for comments. I have worked under both male and female bosses, more females than males. And I find there is a difference in their style of working too. Female bosses tend to be more picky about things, male bosses are more flexible. Upon reflection, the harder parts of my working life so far had been under female bosses, the smoother part under male bosses. So perhaps what people say may be true after all.
When I was first posted out to my school to teach, it was in the middle of a merger, so the Principal was a male and at the other premises, and the Vice-Principal was a female and running the school on her own. She was autocratic and expected things done her way. I felt my hands tied behind my back as I had a lot of ideas to help improve pupils' grades but she was so inflexible. When the schools merged, we had a new Principal and Vice-Principal, both females. The Principal was nicer than the previous Vice-Principal but she chose to listen to backstabbers and did not recognise all that I did. Needless to say, my life was miserable under her.
When I entered the corporate world, I had my share of female and male bosses in the few companies I had worked in. I really suffered under the female bosses, particularly the one in my previous company. She was totally autocratic, intolerant and had very severe mood swings, or what I would call the PMS Syndrome. I had to swallow all the insults she dished out at me. If my work was not really up to par, she could just let me know which part I had gone wrong or tell me how she wanted it. She did not have to insult me by saying I did not have a brain, she could just hire a robot to work, then turned around and said not to do anything without her permission! So I got scolded by following her instructions, and also got scolded by being initiative like she asked.
Those male bosses I have worked for are pretty flexible. They seem to have better temperament and generally leave you alone as long as the work gets done. Is it because males are generally more easy-going and females are more petty? Or is it because when a female actually manage to penetrate somewhere high-ranking in a male-dominated world, she wants to do all she can to keep herself up there, even to the extent of being labelled a "bitch"?
But this is already the 21st century. Women have been out working in the society for at least half a century now. Men and women are generally thought equal. Although I hope the starting salary scale and promotion aspects can become really equal. It is unfair that men and women with the same qualifications, results, job scope and rank, the men still get higher starting salary and faster promotions. For a woman to achieve, she must work three times as much and as hard as her male counterparts. So is it any wonder that once a woman manages to achieve, she naturally becomes bossy and intolerant? Although I still find it inexcusable to just scream and insult your subordinates anytime you feel like it.
I find single, successful women the hardest to work under and work with. They are what people will classify as being "married" to their work. My mum and my married friends all said that because these women are single, they do not have the chance to enjoy a family life. There are certain things which one can only learn when one has her own family - things like tolerance, compassion, understanding, commitment, selflessness, self-sacrifice. It is hard to learn these values if you are single and by yourself, as these values can only be nurtured together with a partner. Thus if one does not know how to be compassionate or tolerant or understanding, chances are she will be very difficult to work for. A spark of truth there.
So perhaps it is true that male bosses are easier to work for. I have had bad experiences with female bosses but so far my male bosses have been pretty alright. That is not to say that all females make bad bosses. Maybe I have just not come across a good female boss.
3 comments:
I read somewhere that says: females tend to compete, whether they realize it or not. Boss female, you female, so boss tekan you. Sometimes its that simple.
But then again, my principal was also one of the 'single, power-career woman'. I could not stand her :P
True what you say. If the boss is female and the subordinate is female, normally it is harder for the subordinate to get along with the boss. But strangely, it seems that a female boss treats a male subordinate very differently, when compared to a female subordinate.
Very interesting post! I think I have had good & bad bosses of both genders. So I don't know for sure who is better.
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