Coaching Yourself to Leadership: Five Key Strategies for Becoming an Integrated Leader

Gender Differences in Communicating

I often hear people (mostly women) talk about how they hold back when it comes to letting others know that they are competent, skilled, and talented. Many believe that all they have to do is perform well and they will be rewarded. But you have to let the right people know how good you are. If you don’t advocate for yourself, who’s going to? If you don’t speak up for yourself, why would you expect someone else to speak up for you?

Communication is one area in which gender differences definitely emerge. Deborah Tannen, author of several best sellers, writes extensively on this topic. According to Tannen, when we communicate across genders, we are communicating cross-culturally and are trying to balance the conflicting ...