WOMEN AT THE TOP, A HIT OR A MISS?
Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister will go down in history as one the most efficient female leaders in office. She was voted back into the office, in what experts termed as a landslide win. Many things have worked in her favour I have to say. From the New Zealand Muslim killings to the prowess in which her administration handled the Covid-19 pandemic. Not to mention the arduous fact that New Zealand has vaccinated close to half of its total population. Jacinda is a force to reckon with. She is a leader, a female leader and at the moment, the prime minister is breaking the glass ceiling.
Women in leadership is a topic often discussed and in most cases, the best-case scenarios are brought out. Numbers that don’t lie show that in most fortune 500 companies, female C.E.Os are killing it in the game. The wonderful women go hard or go home, nothing in between. But what is it like to work for a female boss or report to a female supervisor? In my experience excellent. I have worked with women in higher ranks and it is safe to say that I got the best of both worlds as Miley Cyrus would say.
A study 24-year-old who was sort of drunk with power was my first supervisor. Susan, allow me to use this name, had little knowledge of people management. She excelled in being a goody-two-shoes whilst getting the job done. My current supervisor is female, too reserved a persona and maybe exorbitantly meek for my taste. I have to say that having only worked with her in this past quarter, she deserves the title plus more pay. Have I grown under her wings? Yes and I’m forever grateful.
Unfortunately, not everyone has been granted the same fortunes. Speaking to a group of friends during the past weekend, I couldn’t help but shudder at the stories that were traded. “I have only had a one week break in the one year I have worked in this organisation”. According to the friend nothing, not even public holidays are recognised by her employer. “My boss is so mean, she only sends emails in caps always”. This as maintained by the friend is, of course, an intention to foster intimidation.
This got me thinking, are women leaders at work bullies? During my research, it came to my attention that the queen bee mentality exists and unfortunately it’s the junior women who suffer the most. I bumped into Shannon the lawyer behind the blog but I do have a law degree who details her experience with mean women particularly superiors at the workplace. She breaks down the 3 different types of women at the workplace. The “aggressive bitch” who wouldn’t think twice about abusing anyone. The “two-faced passive-aggressive bitch” who would sting at any time and the “tuned out Indifferent bitch” who is so busy that they don’t have time for anything. The sisterhood that she had hoped for was non-existent. Women in the big law firms were simply out to outdo each other. According to her, there are exceptions, but not that many.
“Women should support each other, build each other but in the law firm this is not a reality”
In their recent video, the Over25 group discussed the lessons from their early careers and the “mean bitches” still came up. The older woman at the workplace who should have been a sister or a mentor instead chose to vilify the younger girls.
I’m yet to find out the reason for this type of bullying, but my main guess is jealousy coupled up with an inferiority complex because what else would explain a 40-year-old who insists on taunting a 21-year-old at the workplace. Are you an older woman at the workplace, if yes where do you stand?