LeanInTogether: 6 Tips for Men at Work

Want to be seen as a leader at the office? Check out the #LeanInTogether “Tips for Men at Work” to learn six bias-busting tactics for enhancing equality in your workplace.

Published in: Business

#LeanInTogether: 6 Tips for Men at Work from Lean In

Transcript

• 1. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org #LeanInTogether 6 TIPS FOR MEN AT WORK Get the complete tips at leanin.org/tips/work Thomas Barwick / Getty Images
• 2. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org Stereotypes are enormously self-reinforcing. Men are expected to be assertive, confident, and opinionated, so we welcome their leadership. In contrast, women are expected to be kind, nurturing, and compassionate, so when they lead, they go against our expectations and often face pushback. This dynamic disadvantages women at work. 6 TIPS FOR MEN AT WORK
• 3. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org 1 1 CHALLENGE THE LIKEABILITY PENALTY SITUATION If a woman is competent, she does not seem nice enough, but if a woman seems really nice, she is considered less competent. This can have a big impact on a woman’s career. SOLUTION Listen for the language of this likeability penalty. If you hear a woman called “aggressive” or “out for herself,” ask, “Would you have the same reaction if a man did the same thing?” In many cases, the answer is no.
• 4. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org#LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org Women are often hired based on past performance while men are often hired for their potential.
• 5. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org 2 2 EVALUATE PERFORMANCE FAIRLY SITUATION Male performance is often overestimated compared to female performance,1 a bias that is even more pronounced when review criteria are unclear.2 This helps explains why women are hired and promoted based on the past, while men are hired and promoted for potential.3 SOLUTION Make sure you are aware of gender bias in evaluating performance. Know the criteria for what constitutes excellent performance and be prepared to explain your evaluations.
• 6. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org 3 While men typically attribute their success to innate qualities, women often attribute success to external factors like “getting lucky” and “help from others.”4 When women and men work together on tasks, women are given less credit for successes and blamed more for failure.5 Because women receive—and give themselves—less credit, their confidence often erodes. Make sure women get the credit they deserve and look for opportunities to acknowledge their contributions. When you introduce female coworkers, emphasize their accomplishments! 3 GIVE WOMEN CREDIT SITUATION   SOLUTION  
• 7. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org#LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org Women get less airtime and have less influence in meetings.
• 8. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org 4 SITUATION Men tend to talk more and make more suggestions in meetings, while women are interrupted more, given less credit for their ideas, and have less overall influence.6 Without full participation, meetings cannot tap everyone’s expertise, which undermines team outcomes. SOLUTION If female colleagues are interrupted, interject and say you’d like to hear them finish. Be aware of “stolen ideas” and look for opportunities to acknowledge the women who first proposed them. 4 GET THE MOST OUT OF MEETINGS
• 9. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org 5 SITUATION Women do more “office housework”—service and support work such as taking notes, organizing events, and training new hires. These tasks steal valuable away from core responsibilities and can keep a team member from participating fully. SOLUTION Do your part to help distribute office housework equally. Consider picking up some yourself; it often creates opportunities to collaborate with different coworkers and develop new skills. 5 SHARE OFFICE HOUSEWORK
• 10. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org#LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org Motherhood triggers assumptions that women are less competent and committed.
• 11. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org 6 SITUATION Motherhood triggers assumptions that a woman is less competent and less committed to her career. As a result, she is held to higher standards and presented with fewer opportunities.7 SOLUTION Don’t assume mothers won’t be willing to take on challenging assignments or travel. If you’re a parent, be vocal about the time you spend away from work with your children; this gives mothers—and fathers—in your organization permission to do the same. 6 MAKE WORK WORK FOR PARENTS
• 12. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org When men lean in for equality, they win—and so does everyone else. Children are happier and healthier. Marriages are stronger. Teams and companies produce better results. Men, show the world you’re for equality. Women, celebrate men leaning in. In for equality? Pass it on—#LeanInTogether LET’S #LEANINTOGETHER
• 13. #LeanInTogether | LeanInTogether.Org ENDNOTES 1  Emily R. Mondschein, Karen E. Adolph, and Catherine S. Tamis-Le Monda, “Gender Bias in Mothers’ Expectations About Infant Crawling,” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 77, no. 4 (2000): 304–16. 2  Eric Luis Uhlmann and Geoffrey L. Cohen, “Constructed Criteria: Redefining Merit to Justify Discrimination,” Psychological Science 16, no. 6 (2005): 474–80. For a discussion see Cheryl Staats, State of the Science: Implicit Bias Review 2014 (2014), Kirwan Institute, Ohio State University. 3  Joanna Barsh and Lareina Yee, Special Report: Unlocking the Full Potential of Women in the U.S. Economy, McKinsey & Company (April 2011), 6, http://www.mckinsey.com/Client_Service/Organization/Latest_thinking/ Unlocking_the_full_potential.aspx. 4  Sylvia Beyer, “Gender Differences in Causal Attributions by College Students of Performance on Course Examinations,” Current Psychology 17, no. 4 (1998): 346–58. 5  Madeline E. Heilman and Michelle C. Hayes, “No Credit Where Credit is Due: Attributional Rationalization of Women’s Success in Male-Female Teams,” Journal of Applied Psychology 90, no.5 (2005): 905-926; Michelle C. Hayes and Jason S. Lawrence, “Who’s to Blame? Attributions of Blame in Unsuccessful Mixed-Sex Work Teams,” Basic and Applied Social Psychology 34, no. 6 (2012): 558-564. 6  Christopher F. Karpowitz, Tali Mendelberg, Lee Shaker, “Gender Inequality in Deliberative Participation,” American Political Science Review 106, no. 3 (2012) 533-547; Kieran Snyder, “How to Get Ahead as a Woman in Tech: Interrupt Men,” Slate, July 23, 2014, http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/07/23study_men_interrupt_women_ more_in_tech_workplaces_but_high_ranking_women.html; Madeline E. Heilman and Michelle C. Hayes, “No Credit Where Credit is Due: Attributional Rationalization of Women’s Success in Male-Female Teams,” Journal of Applied Psychology 90, no. 5 (2005): 905-926; Melissa C. Thomas-Hunt and Katherine W. Phillips, “When What You Know is Not Enough: Expertise and Gender Dynamics in Task Groups,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 30, no. 12 (2004): 1585-1598. 7  Shelley J. Correll, Stephen Bernard, and In Paik, “Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?,” American Journal of Sociology 112, no. 5 (2007): 1297-1339.