Who Envys Women Leaders?

"Neighbor's envy, Owner's pride" was the tag line of Onida TVs back in the 90s. Back then people envied other people who had color TV at home - Fond memories of simpler life and its pleasures .

?Envy - is a common emotion. Obviously no one will admit to being envious openly - but heart in heart everyone envies some person or the other - for good or bad. In this article I have tried to explore - who envies women leaders?

?Disclaimer: This article is purely based on my own experience and should be consumed in that spirit.

?Employees who report into women leaders:

?More often than not - I have heard men and women (surprise!) say that they dread working for a woman manager. They are either mean or meek - both of which are not desirable qualities in a leader. Also there is a perception that women leaders cannot fight hard enough for their team when it comes to salary increments and bonus payouts.

?Personally I only got to work for one woman manager in my 20+ years of experience and she is one of the best that you can get as a manager. Over a period of time, we became peers and now have moved on to different organizations but she continues to be my confidant, career counsellor and most of all best friend for life!

?In a quest to prove themselves, women often push themselves and their teams more than probably what is necessary. There are multiple research articles which show that women almost put in double the effort as compared to men for the same job to get it done. Probably this makes the team feel pressurized and makes them miserable. This also makes some of them envy the woman manager, thinking they would have done much better had they been there!

?Employees who are peers to women leaders:

?The envy factor is probably the most evident here. Let's be realistic. Everyone wants to move up the value chain. When your peer gets an opportunity, and you don’t - it's quite natural to feel envious.

But do people feel it more if a woman gets that opportunity as compared to a man?

?Again, in my own experience I have been by-passed for opportunities where I felt I was the best suited. Was it because of my gender? Hard to say. But overall, I feel you win some and you lose some. No point in brooding over lost opportunities or feeling envious about others making it. Look for newer opportunities and move on. Easier said than done - but that’s the only way it works isn't it???

?But Peer envy can become counterproductive very soon. We all need a collaborative and positive environment to thrive. Establishing a good working relationship with our peers is hence very important to ensure success. Open and honest communication, coupled with genuine hard work has always given me results.

?Leaders who manage women leaders:

?I have worked with diverse set of leaders. Most of them were good, some of them were/are inspirational and some were … well, envious.

?There is extensive research that shows that if there is an opportunity with 10 desired skills, men will apply for it even if they have 2 or 3 of them. Whereas women will apply only if they themselves feel that they have at least 7 or 8 of the desired skills.

Inspirational leaders identify this trait and encourage the women next in their line for taking up additional responsibilities even with limited skills. With coaching and mentorship women are proven to be more loyal and also more effective.

?So, what's my conclusion?

?People are envied irrespective of their gender or caliber. Some express it openly whereas some don’t. As women, we are resilient but at the same time get taken for granted. We are tuned to handle criticism in our own way. We are stereotyped more often than not. All this exists. But in the end, our work should speak for itself.. Not our gender.?Our mannerisms should speak for itself… not our gender.

?Gender should be just an attribute not our entire identity!

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