Lady Boss

It's annoying to be called Lady Boss. I admit. There are few that do call me that and I'm pretty sure they do not come with bad intentions, but still, very annoying. I can almost feel my eyebrow twitch when I hear it.

I spent some time thinking about this and wondered why two simple words can be so irritating.

As a woman and as a boss, one thing I feel we are constantly managing is the prejudice that has always been there ever since I walked into a company as an employee. 

That women bosses are:

bossy

emotional (as if PMS is the root cause of all our problems..)

moody

micro-managers

basically....your living nightmare.

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Concious of this prejudice, we try to (well at least I do) not be the kind of boss that can be generalized into those categories..and I guess when I get called that, it reminds me of this prejudice.

Heck, some days I can be all of that but I have seen men bosses who are all of that too but somehow they are not subjected to the same prejudice. We are human, we have issues that some days makes us bossy, emotional and moody (I have thought of hanging a skull at my door for those days - I think my staff would appreciate that)....

But they're not because I was born a woman! (sometimes they're caused by men but that deserves another posting altogether...yes I see you ladies nodding there)

As for micro managing, I believe it really is about timing. At different points of your task as a leader you apply different levels of management. In situations where you need to drive change and transformation, you may be pressing down the throttle harder looking through your microscopic lens but as things are headed in the right path, you begin to take your foot off the paddle and look over panoramic lens. It just depends on where you are in that journey.

Although I admit knowing of bosses who are women AND who seem to be living up to that prejudice everyday. To her staff, good luck. To the men dealing with her, just compliment her dress once in awhile ya (whatever you do, DO NOT ask if she is pregnant!)