The folks at the Pew Research Center do some very interesting research. The latest I have seen is a study on people’s perception of women and men as leaders. More than 2,200 men and women were asked to rate men and women on these leadership traits in the order of importance:  honest, intelligent, hard working, decisive, ambitious, compassionate, outgoing and creative.  

Both men and women agree that women are more honest, intelligent, compassionate, outgoing and creative than men. The respondents agreed that men and women were equal on being hardworking and ambitious. The one area where men were seen to have higher abilities is decisiveness.  That’s 5 to 1 with two ties and it is equally seen to be true by both men and women! 

Sixty nine percent thought that men and women made equally strong leaders. However of the remaining people only 6% thought women were stronger leaders and 21 percent thought men to be the stronger.

The paradox for me and for the researchers is that these perceptions have not translated into higher numbers of women in the top political, and corporate arenas.  What do you think?   Why haven’t perceptions translated to actions in your opinion. Please leave your comments below. 

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Tags: Communication, Decision-Making, Management Skills, New News, diversity by Norma Smith Davis
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According to a recent Gallop Poll only 6% of men wear a tie to work every day.  Sales of men’s ties have dropped to a record low of 677 million as opposed to 1.3 billion in 1995. This and other  facts about ties was the subject of an article in my local paper, The Press Democrat. 

To Tie or Not To Tie!

Not many years ago ties were required in most fine restaurants. Now you see men with baseball caps on backwards and even gang attire. The only men who seem to consistently wear a tie are funeral directors, talk show hosts, news anchors and lawyers when they are in court. And why do talk show hosts wear a suit and tie anyway?  I would laugh just as loud at Jay, David and Craig if they were wearing dress casual. Wouldn’t you? 

On the other hand those comedians who have risen to the nightly spots on the major networks may want to distinguish themselves from the  grungy comics that appear only sporadically on Comedy Central.  

And the Geek Squad employees of Best Buy are required to wear a thin tie, to convey a “seriousness of purpose and sense of professionalism” according to a statement released by the company this week in response to queries from the newspaper.  

So what does a suit and tie say in this day and age?  

Do you want to buy stocks and bonds from a man in cut offs? How about a golf shirt?   Is there still a place in organizations and industries for formal, business attire? Does a tie correlate to professionalism?  Leave a comment on this blog about your organization’s thinking on this.  And your thinking as well?  Do men really get headaches from their tie?  (For heaven’s sake, loosen it up!) 

When I was a career coach I always counseled people to dress like the people who hold the jobs they aspire to. I think that is still the best advise.  If you don’t want to wear a suit and tie select a professional where it isn’t required.   

For now here is my bottom line.  

Studies still show that when developing trust and believability people make snap decision based more on visual than any other aspect  of communication. Visual has a 55% impact. Content only has a 7% impact and voice has 38%. Given that, it is worthwhile for organizations to survey their customers, find out what their expectations and preferences are in terms of dress and then try to fulfill those expectations!  That’s what will build trust and believability.   

And now let’s talk about pantyhose! 

Do bare legs diminish the professionalism of women?  Is it unprofessional to go barelegged in the summer?  Do you spray on self tanner so it looks like you have on  hose?  

Tags: Communication, New News, Performance Expectations by Norma Smith Davis
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Managers and supervisors can take note on how hospitals are reducing their malpractice lawsuits by counseling their doctors to apologize when they make a mistake. 

Yes it’s true there is a lot to be learned about excellent leadership, communication and collaboration from the newspaper.  Part one of this article spoke about a casino tribal leader who overcame his predecessor’s bad leadership and communication to win over a community that had been dead set against any expansion of the casino in the wine country.  Here’s a story, in the same newspaper (The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California) on the same day that further illustrates the points.  

The Value Of Saying You Are Sorry

When Dr. Tapas K. Das Gupta, chairman of surgical oncology at University of Illinois Medical Center discovered that he had removed tissue from the wrong rib of his patient, he did something that might have made some hospital lawyers cringe; he apologized to the patient!  He recalled saying, “After all these years, I cannot give you any excuse whatsoever.  It is just one of those things that occurred.  I have to some extent harmed you”.   

Wow, for decades malpractice lawyers have been advising doctors to 

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Tags: Communication, New News, Rewards, Recognition by Norma Smith Davis
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FROM THE NEW NEWS FILE:

Ninety two percent of managers told researchers that they are doing an “excellent” or “good” job managing their employees, BUT only 67% of workers agree with them.  In addition 23% say their boss is doing a “fair” job and 10% say they are doing “poor’ job. 

What explains this discrepancy?  Research conducted by Rasmussen Reports LLC for Hudson, a staffing and outsourcing firm, suggests that while workers aren’t giving managers an overwhelming thumbs-down, the difference does suggest a problem. 

 Basically, no one thinks they are doing a bad job, but most workers 

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Tags: New News by Norma Smith Davis
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