Who Runs the World

There are a couple of articles making the rounds in my feeds that connect to my role as part-owner of a small business that just completed its annual staff evaluation process.  The first is a review of a play that imagines the Trump-Clinton debates if the gender roles were reversed, and the second is a commentary on what happened when two co-workers swapped their email signatures.

In the former case, we learn that the female Trump comes off as more likable AND more assertive, while the male Clinton irks folks.  In the latter case, we discover that just by being seen as a man, a female co-worker is taken more seriously while her male co-worker masquerading as a woman is belittled, dismissed, and hit on.

We have come a long way in this country on women's rights - less than 100 years ago women couldn't even vote, whereas last year we just barely missed having a woman run our country - but obviously we still have a long way to go.  This is true in politics, in gender roles in the home, and in the workplace. 

So, about that workplace.  As noted, I am part-owner of a small business that just completed its annual staff evaluation process.  I'll avoid commenting on the substance of our firm to be discreet, but I will point out that the four principals of the firm are male but 13 out of the 22 employees are female: four out of seven directors, four out of nine analysts, two out of three business development staff, and all three administrative people. 

Which means that my desire to be more "woke" is not just a matter of "it's the right thing to do" but also feeds into other things that matter to me, like running a successful business, making a workplace that works for all people, and providing growth opportunities for our employees.  As is often the case, doing right is often the same as doing well, if you think about it.