I spent over 30 years in Corporate America – 20 of those in management.
I loathed gender-based business training.
- Organizational Skills for Women
- Anger Management for Women
- Management Skills for Women
At the time, my thoughts were –
- What, only women need organizations skills?
- Anger management issues affect only one gender?
- Help developing management skills is gender-specific?
Different styles does not equal lack of skills.
Vive la Difference
Lest you think this is my own bias, I love working with men and women.
Men and women are different – thank the Lord.
At the risk of making a judgment, allow me to share a favorite story.
A woman had a lumpectomy that left a scar. She complained to her husband about that scar. His response was, “If it bothers you that much, have it removed.”
That response did not make the woman happy. When sharing her husband’s response with a female friend, her friend replied, “I know what you mean. Looking at that scar reminds you every day about your cancer. Removing it won’t change that.”
“Exactly,” the woman said.
So, did that make her friend’s response right and her husband’s wrong?
No, it only made them different.
- Her husband took the practical approach of “fixing” the problem
- Her friend took the emotional support of “I understand”
They both loved the woman. They simply had different ways of showing support.
The Great Equalizer
One of the great things about the internet is it has no gender or age bias. Success comes in all forms. So, is it really necessary to perpetuate stereotypes with gender-specific business training?
Instead of isolating a specific gender, embrace the individual differences that are not exclusive to men or women.
By the way, in case you are wondering what prompted this post, it was receiving an invitation to a webinar teaching internet skills to women.
What do you think?
Should there be gender-based business training courses?
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Thank you Cathy! I thought I was the only one who didn’t quite get the “feminine divine power” thing. Not knocking anyone who’s doing it, but at some level I believe men & women need some of the same things. (Just my 2 cents 🙂
Thanks, Kelly, for sharing your perspective. I understand the challenges women face with things like the glass ceiling, but I think it’s just wrong to paint the skill levels of women – or men – as all the same, to the point of gender-based courses for those skills.
I appreciate you stopping by, Kelly. 🙂
I agree with you, Cathy. The thing to know about the rise of feminine power is that it’s NOT about excluding men. Quite the opposite, actually. It’s about learning to balance the power between us. I personally love to have a mix of women and men when it comes to networking, training, marketing, etc. As you pointed out there is a difference between the two that . . . here I’ll say it again . . . provides balance! 🙂
Hi Sherrie: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I couldn’t agree with you more. If we can focus on the skills and sharing that skill, that sounds like a formula for success.
Thanks for stopping by, Sherrie!
Great post Cathy! I personally love learning from women when it comes to marketing because we have such a different approach. However I think as Sherrie mentioned above, there are things to be learned from our differences. Pretty much I feel that whoever is supposed to be at an event, training, networking etc. will be there. Men, women… we are all just humans and have so much to learn from each other it all works out perfectly.
Hi Melanie: Thank you for visiting and sharing your point of view. And that’s what it’s all about-sharing our knowledge and skills to succeed.
Hope to see you here again, Melanie. Thanks.
I have been saying this for months about the countless networking found in social media: I don’t know if I can stomach another Women ____________ (insert generic group names here) on Facebook…
Ty: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’m all for support – in many forms, but I think when we start limiting our choices, we miss out on some pretty great information.
I appreciate you stopping by. Thanks, Ty.
Hi Cathy,
I’m a big fan of people training.
I don’t happen to be a fan of labels. Men, women, and whatever race we happen to be, we were all blessed with a limitless consciousness, an unlimited awareness.
Does infinite awareness need separate training? Didn’t think so 😉
Thanks for sharing!
Ryan
You nailed it, Ryan. I am not a fan of labels either. They’re so restricting, especially when we buy into them. Thanks for sharing your view, Ryan!
I’m with Ryan!
And, I don’t get it, anyway. If we ran our business saying we help ONLY men and males to grow their businesses, we’d be sued, blued, and tattooed!
This concept of discrimination- for any purpose- can be tolerated ONLY for a short period of time. After twenty years, there’s a new generation that is involved.
Hi, Roy: Thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts. A good idea is a good idea-regardless of who says it. Thanks again for commenting.
Cathy, you’d love You Just Don’t Understand by Deborah Tannen (sounds like you may have read it already). You describe perfectly the difference between men and women.
I too am not a fan of gender-based training. I think it makes assumptions (rightly or wrongly) about each gender’s capabilities. There are just as many lousy men executives as there are insecure women wanting to be executives. I have to go with Ryan’s assessment – people training over gender-based training.
Hi Lori: Actually, no I haven’t read Deborah’s book. I’ll have to check it out-thanks.
You are so right. We are all guilty (I imagine) from making generalizations based on gender, age or whatever. I try to catch myself when I do that, but it’s tough with so many reinforcements out there. If we can look at each person as an individual, we are headed in the right direction.
Thanks for stopping by, Lori.