Wednesday, January 25, 2012

And Sometimes ... - Part 1


       And sometimes … in all fairness I must admit this … Testosterone gets it right. We’ve all heard the following two phrases many times. It’s not personal. It’s just business. You may not want to believe it but it’s true. Take some time to think about it before dismissing it. For our testosterone peers, business is a game … a game that they have come to compete in and to win. Men build teams. A winning team will add dollars to the bottom line of the corporate coffers. A losing team doesn’t last long.

      A good manager will evaluate the weak links, make changes and rebuild a losing team. It’s not personal. It’s business. And here’s where those of us that are testosterone challenged sometimes stray: Men build teams, women build relationships.

      Relationships are not conducive to building a strong team. Relationships are not conducive to competition. Relationships are not conducive to setting the bar high and weeding out those who can’t cut it. Relationships should be reserved for customers, business partners, significant others and family.  I am always amazed when I come across another woman in the corporate world who sees herself more as a mother lioness than as a competitor.

      A mother lioness is not hard to pick out.  Business is built upon change. A good business is flexible and always changing.  A mother lioness doesn’t handle change well. She has invested her time, energy and emotions in building a family and a corporate restructuring means that some part of or even all of that family is likely to be reassigned. The teeth and claws begin to show. 

     A mother lioness will not be a team player. She will be a team disrupter. It takes long periods of time for her to overcome the loss of what she has built and be fully functional again. She will jeopardize her reputation, her credibility, and the new team she has become a part of because of her disruptive and uncooperative behavior.  She is not capable of moving beyond the change and starting the game again.

      So what other traits of a mother lioness can be deadly ... by that I mean deadly to her career ???   stay tuned

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Wearing the White Shirt -- Part 3


It was the fall planning meeting. A five hundred million dollar technology budget was a stake and any man who entered that room without his white shirt was already a loser.  The conference room was a long, elegant, corporate space at the Boston offices. Needless to say, the testosterone radiating from the white shirts was blinding.  I calculated the testosterone ratio to be 5:1 … five men for every one woman. This ratio was a little higher than most meetings. The standard is generally closer to 4:1 with an occasional 3:1 thrown in for good measure. So with approximately six women in the meeting, the testosterone count was … well you can do the math! As I sat there through out the day, prepared to defend my piece of that budget, something unexpected began to transpire. I was becoming inebriated … almost giddy … with testosterone. One minute I was deflecting the harsh glare of white shirts and the next minute I was feeling drunk with power and prestige. I was making decisions with some of the most powerful testosterone in the corporation. It was so intoxicating that I actually woke up the next morning with a testosterone hangover … the remains of all the clout and status faintly pounding in my head. It did not last long. It did nothing to recharge my own personal testosterone. What it was … was a taste of what it feels like to wear the white shirt!
So ... where shall we go next?  As much as I hate to admit it .... Sometimes ..... 

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wearing the White Shirt -- Part 2


Full summers, from Memorial Day through Labor Day, were dubbed dress down.  Of course, common sense was required.  There were still days when the formal attire was more prudent but this still left long stretches of time when the white shirts were imprisoned together in the back of many closets.  The testosterone laced between the strands of white fabric, steaming. And here, ladies, is when white shirts became our reluctant ally. When a man wants to be ready for battle … a negotiation, a sales presentation, an executive review, a corporate take-over … he will still reach for that white shirt.  He will literally wear his testosterone on his sleeve!  A white shirt is a clear indication that strong testosterone is present and very much in the game.  If you are in that game, be forewarned.
When testosterone and its attire is confined to an enclosed space … a private office, a corporate dining room, a conference room … and there is little or no testosterone-free oxygen circulating, the build up can be stifling and sometimes intoxicating. A direct report once hosted a four hour meeting in one of the smaller conference rooms. The room was intended to sit eight to ten individuals comfortably. Conference rooms were at a premium that particular day, so this room had to accommodate closer to twelve, maybe thirteen individuals, all male, all middle level technology management, and the majority visiting from one of our Wall Street subsidiaries. I had been invited by my subordinate to speak for a few minutes half way through the meeting as we were partnering for a new project and most of us had not yet met in person. Up to now the discussions were held via conference calls. As I approached the room that had one full wall of glass, I didn’t notice any white shirts but I did notice a bulging of the glass, the misty cloud of testosterone clinging to all surface areas, and the more arrogant molecules pinging off the walls and through out the room. Taking a long deep breath and recruiting a shot of my own testosterone, I stepped into the room. It was hard to breathe. So as to not waste too much of my own precious and limited testosterone, I did not linger. After asserting my position as owning senior accountability for the project, and some well placed humorous comments, I left the remainder of the meeting to my testosterone direct report. Though this encounter was lacking the white shirts, the tight quarters seemed to invigorate the testosterone seeping from the more casual attire.   When you combine the two elements, many white shirts and enclosed quarters, and you stay in that environment for longer periods of time, you might actually have a shot of getting passed the stifling effect and experience the lure of the testosterone intoxication.  
What exactly does testosterone intoxication feel like ... that's up next. 

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wearing the White Shirt -- Part 1


There was a day, in the distant past, when corporate testosterone around the globe lived by the rule of the uniform. It was a simple rule. The color of the suit and socks were to be dark blue or black. The tie must be muted and matched. The shoes had to be black or brown. And the very core of the uniform was the shirt. The crisp, clean, colorless shirt must be long sleeved and white. So important was this feature of the uniform that by the early twentieth century corporate testosterone came to be known by it … the white-collar worker. Once in uniform there was easy entry into the testosterone brigade and ready access to a privileged camaraderie. Those of us missing sufficient quantities of testosterone, but finally making it into the management ranks of corporate America, lacked such an ally. There was no such uniform for women and when we tried to imitate the look, we couldn’t pull if off. A woman dressed in a perfectly fitted, dark suit with a tailored white blouse still stood out … too many curves … not enough testosterone. And for that … thankfully … short period, when some women added the tie to complete the look, snickering could be heard from behind her back.
Somewhere, over three decades ago, testosterone began having tiny fashion fits. A short sleeved shirt would surface perhaps on a really hot day. A pale, blue shirt would emerge possibly because all the white shirts were in the wash. A suit jacket would be removed for long periods of time. A tie came loose and the top shirt button unbuttoned. More colors began to spring forth from the closets oppressed for far too long by white.  And finally, the greatest fashion innovation to hit corporate America reared its ugly head … the dress down day. This was a sanctioned day when dark suits and white shirts across an entire company finally took a vacation day.  Individual contributors and middle management were the first ranks to embrace this new phenomenon.  But those laden with the T-stuff, most residing in the senior and executive levels, found it excruciating to step past the revolving doors in anything but a white shirt.  Even the senior women were reluctant at best to explore what ‘dress down’ might mean for them.  They were still struggling with a corporate uniform. Then someone, some brave senior testosterone soul, had a brilliant idea.  He came into the office on that dress down day, attired as though he were off to play golf. The look took off like fire. Now it felt right and made sense.  Golfing attire is testosterone’s second uniform … it’s casual uniform.  As much and maybe even more business is transacted in golfing attire as is in formal business dress. It was now safe for all testosterone management ranks to fully embrace dress down day. The brigade was no longer at risk and the camaraderie still very much intact. Polo shirts and fresh, pressed slacks were victorious over the white shirts.
It would only be a short leap from there into the twenty-first century and what would come next ... stay tuned ...

Friday, March 11, 2011

Friday  11 March 2011   Prays

Please pray for our sisters and brothers devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that shook Japan and the rest of the world today.  Such a sad and terrible tragedy! 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Beware the Doppelganger -- Finale

So WHAT SHOULD an estrogen colleague or minion do when faced with Tom or Sam’s alter ego Sparky?

That answer is … it depends.  For the most part, it is safe to simply ignore the spotlight grabbing doppelganger.  A stealth estrogen eye-roll to other estrogen witnesses can alleviate some of the frustration. However, if you need this Tom or Sam as a corporate ally you may not only have to put up with his doppelganger but also maybe even occasionally have to feed his spotlight desires.  From time to time it may be in your best political interest to give the spotlight to that doppelganger … throw him a bone … ask him a question … look for his advice … turn the spotlight over to him … For the sake of staying in his good graces.  Understand that if you do this too often or too obviously for a Hi Test Tom, he’ll know that you are kissing his testosterone keister and it will only backfire on you.  Super Sales Sam will eat it up. So it does become important to assess which type of doppelganger you are dealing with. Another word of caution; Consider the trade off between throwing the spotlight too often in Sparky’s direction against the fallout you might face from your estrogen peers. They will know immediately when you are ‘brown nosing’ and will be even less happy if you over encourage Spotlight Sparky to perform.
There is one lesson, however, we should take from Sparky.  When he steps into the spotlight, he is usually prepared. He knows his material and has his message generally well crafted and practiced. And he believes in the soliloquy he is performing, which always goes a long way towards sounding confident and polished with your audience … even if they are rolling their eyes.  It is not bad practice to step into the spotlight. The bad practice is in continually trying to grab for it.  You will need to be in the spotlight as you continue to build a career and advance up that corporate ladder.  So take the lesson from Sparky worth taking … be prepared, know your material or message, believe in what you are saying, and practice if possible. You’ll want to sound genuine, comfortable and confident when the spotlight is yours.
According to the German folklore, when one sees their doppelganger it is usually an omen … a forewarning of their eminent death. Well,  for the record there has never been a death directly attributed to a Spotlight Sparky doppelganger but there sure have been a lot of estrogen eye-rolls!

And my next post will start a new topic ... ever wonder what it would be like to wear the white shirt?  






Sunday, March 6, 2011

Beware the Doppelganger -- Part 2

So, were you able to figure out which of our testosterone types qualifies for their very own Spotlight Sparky ...  the one and only Sparky who feeds on glory and is always looking for that stage. He can’t resist the opportunity to be visible … likes bees to honey ... and if you guessed Hi Test Tom (probably the more obvious) and Super Sales Sam (the more pitiful) you would be right. 
I will say that Hi Test Tom’s doppelganger is a bit more subtle and discriminating with his spotlight. He seeks to command larger audiences and simply expects that the audience is enthralled with his oration and appreciative of his time spend with them. He’s not trying to win the audience over or secure their buy-in but rather expects it by virtue of his reputation or position.  His stage is found at Town Hall meetings, Executive Board Reviews, corporate priority setting boards, large project steering committee, City Hall Board meetings, Wall Street Analyst presentations and the like. These venues usually come with a spotlight akin to those three rotating spotlights that car dealer’s use and jettison beams high into the night. When he speaks, he seldom uses the ‘I’ pronoun unless someone asks specifically for his opinion. This is clearly in keeping with all the other characteristics of a Hi Test Tom.
Super Sales Sam’s doppelganger is a bit more pathetic.  His Sparky will use almost anywhere or anything for his stage.  And if he can’t find one, he’ll construct one.  He’ll use his boss’s staff meeting to showcase all the project work his team has completed and what he personally has brought to the organization.  He’ll hijack a project meeting to show off his knowledge of technology using unnecessary terms and concepts that clearly float way above everyone else’s head. He’ll take a training course that he is teaching and turn it into the Spotlight Sparky show. He’ll only share his ideas in a peer forum or large group so he can be sure that no one passes his idea off as theirs. Heaven forbid he not get the credit for his idea. His use of the pronoun ‘I’ would elevate it past pronoun and nounto a verb. He is generally pleading ‘look at me,’ ‘listen to me,’ ‘how good am I?’  He is always showing off those personal performance points that you’ll read about in a subsequent post. His spotlight could be a dimly lit bulb on the verge of burnout and he’ll take it. It is just sad but again in keeping with those other attributes of Super Sales Sam.  
There are areas of commonality that these doppelgangers do share. They all love to hear themselves talk. It could be quite amusing if it wasn’t so annoying to watch a testosterone peer sit back and glowingly admire his Spotlight Sparky doppelganger standing on the conference room table in a staff meeting, eloquently delivering his soliloquy of achievements and ideas. Too bad Silky Simon doesn’t have a Spotlight Sparky … at least then we’d have something good to look at. Another similarity is how they all love to have questions asked of them. They do not like, however, to have their answers, positions, and comments questioned. And finally, all Spotlight Sparkys particularly relish being ‘Sparky to the rescue’ and will bask forever … or so it seems … in the glory of a ‘Sparky saves the day!’           


So what should an estrogen colleague or minion do when faced with Tom or Sam’s alter ego Sparky?  The answer coming in my final post on this subject.