The Truth About Managing People, Third Edition

Truth 36. Men and Women Communicate Differently

Research confirms what many of us have thought true since our adolescent days: Men and women often have difficulty communicating with each other. The reason? They use conversation for different purposes. Men tend to use talk to emphasize status, while women generally use it to create connection. These differences create real challenges for managers.

Communication is a continual balancing act, juggling the conflicting needs for intimacy and independence. Intimacy emphasizes closeness and commonalties. Independence emphasizes separateness and differences. But men and women handle these conflicts differently. Women speak and hear a language of connection and intimacy, while men speak and hear a language ...