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Business Rule #32:
Performance Matters, Not Gender
September 30, 2005
(PAGE 2 of 3)
Whereas the men’s message was simply, “This car is hot,” the women were saying, “If you’re hot, you’ll get this car.” Simply put the men’s work didn’t have a unifying, concept behind it, while the women were savvy enough to see the bigger picture in play and sold a self-image.
2) Women are Better Team Players than Men
On this challenge, the women were team players; the men were not. Marshawn Evans, the Capital Edge Project Manager, divided her team into two groups. She entrusted the TV ad to Alla and personally worked with the other half of her team on the design of the print ads. Although Kristi Caudell complained bitterly that Marshawn didn’t help oversee the TV ad, her delegation of duties avoided duplicate efforts and wasted time.
Unfortunately, the men just couldn’t get along with each other this week. Their project manager Chris Valletta just wanted to scream about everything Marcus Garrison did. Chris was more concerned with keeping Marcus’s opinion out of the mix than creating an ad campaign with a clear message.
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Marcus, for his part, was even worse when he jumped at the chance to criticize his own team when the judges pointed out that the lack of question mark after the “Green with Envy” slogan made it a bit confusing. “That’s exactly what I told them,” Marcus sniped. He couldn’t have done more to undermine his team.
Another instance in which the women proved to be more cooperative than the men was the exemption vote. Although there was still some lingering bitterness over Marshawn not having been involved at all in producing the TV spot, everyone except Kristi voted to give her an exemption. Marshawn delegated and let her people do their job. She didn’t have to be perfect for her team to acknowledge that she had been a good project manager.
Unlike the men, who voted down the exemption for their winning project manager last week, the women were willing to vote a benefit to a team leader that they hoped to receive themselves in coming weeks.
3) Men Take Things Too Personally
In sales, there is a saying is that everyone’s favorite radio station is “WII FM” as in, “What’s in it for me?” That’s the question potential clients and customers are always asking themselves. A savvy sales-and-marketing person answers that unspoken question by highlighting the benefits their product or service offers.
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The women were savvy enough to see the bigger picture in play and sold a self-image.
