Source | www.forbes.com | Liz Elting
It’s no secret that women get penalized for the kinds of behaviors that earn men respect. This phenomenon has many knock-on effects, making it harder for women to advance in corporate or other organizational settings, normalizing bad behavior because it’s coded as masculine (and thus powerful), and perpetuating the idea that women are best suited for specific service roles. But perhaps the most frustrating is the way it makes women disregard their leadership potential.
There’s a reason for that; the very behaviors and traits – ambition, assertiveness, an uncompromising vision – that women get picked apart over are the very behaviors we look for in our leaders. But there’s good news; you don’t have to give into that. And the best way to break through your own glass ceiling is to take possession of your bossy, ambitious, wonderful self.
“Bossy” = Leader
When a man takes charge, he’s a leader. When a woman does it, she’s being bossy. Even the word itself is ridiculous; it underlines this double standard. Why would “bossy” be an insult? Why shouldn’t someone take charge and be the boss? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called bossy as an insult for the audacity of running my company. Only in women does bossiness assume such profoundly negative connotations.
In actuality, women who so much as attempt to step into a leadership role are often negatively branded as bossy. For now, there seems to be no getting around that, which is precisely why I wear “bossy” as a badge of honor. I like taking charge and leading, I feel most comfortable organizing, collaborating, and guiding my teams to do the best work we can do, and while it’s not always easy, I promised myself that I’d never let anyone make me feel ashamed for that.
