The Power of Women (eBook)

chapter 2

Woman boss = bossy woman?

‘61% of women compared to 45% of men believe toughness is perceived more negatively in women than in men.’ ¹

In this chapter, I focus on the old trope of the ‘bossy’ woman boss. This is the pushy, controlling micro-manager. You’d be forgiven for thinking in this day and age we’d be done with such a dated caricature but, sadly, in my interviews, I found women tell me that they are often perceived in this way, simply because they are women. We all know how this one goes. When a man is assertive, he’s applauded for being decisive, when a woman behaves the same way, she’s labelled ‘difficult’; when a man gets angry, ...