Forget the battle of the sexes. When it comes down to gender issues (and yes, we ALL have gender "issues"), men and women each bring something unique to the collective bargaining table.
But in the heat of life and business, it's easy to overlook the benefits of men and women being different - we'd rather see those differences as negative. Well, this morning I'm going to turn your head in another direction and give you a list of three things that men and women each do that they do better than the opposite sex!
Now, these aren't absolutes or stereotypical characterizations - they're tools to help you change the way you think. Last week, we talked about the value of having a trusted business colleague to bounce ideas off of.
Well, this week, I'm that person and I'm going to share some fun tips about men and women in business and in life!
Three Things Men Do Better than Women
- The Technicals - From installing a ceiling fan to figuring out why the back door is making "that noise," men are just good with tools and gadgets. They're raised with them - they take shop. Gals took home ec.
- The Research - Guys activate that hunter instinct and will tell us what kind of car we should buy, the best schools in the area in which we want to live and can find most anything we task them with finding. They love to hunt, gather and bring it home.
- The Solving - Men are problem solvers. Not to say that women aren't, but it goes along with The Technicals. If something needs fixing, they'll get it done.
Three Things Women Do Better than Men
- The Listening - While guys are great at fixing, sometimes things don't need to be fixed. They just need to be heard.
- The Translating - We are great at hearing one thing and distilling the meaning. Granted, we are excellent at jumping to conclusions as well (not so great), but it goes along with our listening skills. We can hear, distill and then come out with something on the other side with great prowess.
- The Organizing - Maybe it’s our maternal instinct, but women can rally a crowd, plan a wedding, throw a fundraiser or get 16 kids to a little league game on time. We're great at nurturing and every good organizer is a pro with taking care of the details.
Now, before I get the reaction from some of you as I did from some of my best girlfriends, let me explain. These differences correspond with the years of research done by Carol Gilligan, the foremost leader in gender differences in the world. (I had the privilege of training with one of Carol’s colleagues early in my career.)
Carol’s research shows that men speak in the voice of ‘justice’ and women speak in the voice of ‘care.' Each ‘difference’ translates into leadership, consensus building and influence methods that you use everywhere in your life.
I want to ask you - what's one thing that you think men do better than women and vice versa? We all see situations differently and it's great if we can appreciate the people in front of us for how they're built instead of who we'd like for them to be. Share with me in the comments section! Forget the battle of the sexes: how about a consensus?
