Gender IQ Test – Quiz
Your boss gives you an assignment. You're confused by his instructions, do you?
Since your boss is male it is a good bet he will want you to take the ball and run with it rather than chit chat first. So accomplish what you can on the assignment and if you are still stuck go back and at that point get coaching from the coach.
Diversity is on the company menu and you would like to promote one of your plant managers. She gets great results, but she frequently comes to you to talk about problems she is having with her facility. Then she doesn’t implement your suggestions! The guys who run the other plants don’t bring you problems like this. What are you going to do?
If her numbers are better than any of the other plants she is a great manager. The fact that she came to you, her manager, to talk about problems and ideas does not mean she does not know what she is doing. Women tend to “process” ideas with others rather than keeping them inside as men do. Look at her numbers and promote accordingly.
Friday your department will be meeting and making some critical decisions about the ACME Project. Brandon has stopped by your office several times to lobby you on his perspective.
Men, who tend to be more hierarchical than women, don’t want to lose position in the group and therefore are more likely to solidify their alliances ahead of the meeting. Women tend to expect the meeting to be done in the meeting and often see such pre-meeting maneuvering as excessively political.
Today there was a huge verbal blow-out in the meeting about whether to stay in your current offices or move to new ones. Steve and Todd were literally yelling at each other. Afterward they…
For men usually once the blow-up is over it’s over. For women conflict can linger, sometimes for years. Steve and Todd are males—bet on the beer.
Ashley’s boss, Emily, has just given her an assignment that she has never done before. In fact, she has no background in the area and is not sure she can pull it off. It is a stellar opportunity for her and she wants to do what is best for her boss and her company . She …
Ashley’s female culture is “flat” not hierarchical. As a result she is not worried about losing position in the hierarchy (even if she should be worried) by telling her boss about her perceived shortcomings. Ashley’s concern is first and foremost to keep the company, department and boss safe by providing a heads-up rather than hiding potential shortcomings.
Jennifer: “Emily, I love that new outfit.” Emily: “This old thing? I got it on sale.” Why did Emily respond as she did?
Jennifer and Emily are both from a “flat” culture. Jennifer’s initial compliment has bumped Emily up in the hierarchy of their relationship. Emily’s retort is an attempt to re-flatten the relationship between them by putting herself down—an important balancing act in the female world.
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