When Does Female Rivalry Turn into Sabotage
There’s a lot of stuff written on social media about female rivalry and competition between women. Some of it makes sense and some of it is confusing. Organizations are pyramids with fewer roles at the top than at the bottom. It is inevitable that at some level, as more and more women are in the talent pipeline, at some point they will be in competition with other women.
Many would say that women aren’t competitive. I would suggest re-framing that. I think it’s more accurate to say they are not as competitive in the workplace as men. We have also been made to feel guilty about being competitive. We need to get over that. Here are the reasons:
- The male nature of corporate culture makes it a disincentive to compete
- Women don’t want to compete because prescribed male goals are not attractive enough for them. “Work 14 hour days, not see my partner or family … get sick.. die..no thanks.. I’ll pass”
- Women don’t know how to compete in the workplace. They are new arrivals on the corporate competition scene and lack practise.
- Women experience gender blow back when they do compete, from both men and women
- Women have been raised to think that competing with other women is not empowering them. As more women enter the talent pipeline that is just nonsense.
Learn some insights from Annabel Kaye, Employment Law Expert about how it’s OK to be competitive and the danger zone when it can turn into sabotage. Understand the benefits of mutual support and how all women can profit from having strong strategic allies, role models and mentors.
