Women their own worst enemy

Thursday 11th June 2009, 2:30PM BST.

Michelle Johansen WOMEN could be unwittingly contributing to their own under-representation at the senior levels of business, according to new local research.

Johansen Executive Coaching surveyed both men and women in senior roles at finance companies and legal firms in the island and found that women in top positions were in the minority.

Director Michelle Johansen (pictured) said the survey showed there was definitely untapped female talent in the Guernsey labour market and a strong argument for change.

‘We didn’t come at this research from a feminist standpoint, but to identify whether there were real or perceived barriers to women in Guernsey achieving senior management roles,’ she said.

‘The survey process was extremely enlightening for me. Although trends soon arose, each interview brought new insights.

‘Through this process, I was able to see many of the traps I had inadvertently fallen into during my 20-year career as a senior manager and director in the finance industry in Guernsey.

‘This led me to conclude that women may be unintentionally helping to keep the imbalance in place by behaving in line with perceived stereotypes.’

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Paul Le P

June 11, 2009 at 4:29 pm

I think some of the problem is that a mixture of feminism and the historic condescending treatment by men has encouraged some women in business to be “more masculine than men” rather than focusing on the unique strengths and qualities the fairer sex can bring to the table. I’m therefore not surprised that some of these ladies haven’t got into the higher echelons of business, as most women can’t outdo a man in being a man!

I do wonder whether if a more complementarian approach was used, where both men and women focused on their unique strengths this would change. For example, women’s strengths in negotiation and listening are often far superior to men. Such skills are often lacking in the workplace and I do wonder if some ladies stopped trying to be men in women’s bodies and focused on their strengths, their unique talents would be identified and harnessed?

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