What men do better than women at the workplace.

I know, the title is unpopular. The infinite literature on gender equality and inclusion demonstrates that women are just as performing as men in any kind of industry or field and their body, brain and heart, are equipped for just about anything. This is true. The limitless number or projects, campaigns and laws on gender equality, however, do not seem to have a decisive impact so far, indicating that we can expect gender equality in about 125 years from now (that is approx.. in 2150 A.D.).

There are numerous and scientific based speeches and research on what men should learn from women in order to be better leaders (most of them very interesting), but I have never seen an article on what men do better than women in the workplace. I believe there are a few things men are managing in a smarter way, and I also believe that none of them is, of course, impossible to do. Here are a few:

Championing

I had two male colleagues that once won an internal padel tournament (they were 12 players overall) and they would call each other ‘hey champion’, hugging and cheering, talking about their victory and bringing it up continuously. For months.?

My female peer had won a prize in an international scientific competition and brought cookies in the office to celebrate.??We congratulated her, silently, and when her boss thought it was her birthday, she did not explain. End of the story.

I truly believe that celebrating, championing each other’s victories in the office is something that women should do more. It is not about being arrogant or self-centered (we are far from that), it is about advocating, supporting, cheering and encouraging others to ‘go for it’.?

Being proud of ourselves is a healthy emotion and it can improve our corporate positioning, but also our everyday mood and motivation.?

Sometimes, just do your thing

Female leaders are in a continuous search of Mentors, Advisors, experts and feedback of all kinds. It is not about being less confident (lack of female confidence is a myth / bias never supported by data, after a lot of research) but has often to do with the need of consensus, being liked by others and ‘keep everybody on the loop’.?

I have seen more man sticking to their project, belief or idea even when everybody was against it. They ‘welcome’ feedback, reflect, but even when everybody is telling them ‘this is a crazy idea’, they just do their thing. They might win or fail, but they do it.

?How about women trusting their instincts more? How about caring less about the opinion of others? We can definitively benefit from going against the flow, stick to our beliefs, learn from our own mistakes and simply, sometimes, just trust our gut.?

The Work Life Balance anecdote

Men never talk about work life balance, and if they do, often it is about finding more time for hobbies and sports. This is not a feminist opinion, and I am not talking about men being less into parenting or housekeeping. I am just saying that one way or the other, men do find their balance, they are not making a tragedy around it, and they are not afraid of taking unpopular decisions or fight for that.?

Freeing time to create personal space means changing patterns that keep your life unbalanced. It might mean delegating more at home (delegation starts with trust and feeling ok when losing control, just a reminder), disappointing others’ expectations (this may include some tough conversations), or outsourcing / stop doing things that you do not enjoy.?

I truly know the difficulty of changing social and family habits that harm gender balance. This kind of shifts need time and consistence. I know it is not easy, but it is not impossible.

At the very end, if men can do it, then we can do it too.