my paragraph of fame

FEMALE BOSSES:
Wonder women... or wicked witches?

Are female bosses temperamental, petty and demanding? Or are they more meticulous and caring than male bosses? LifeStyle investigates

By Mak Mun San

WOMEN make bad bosses. They are temperamental. They take things too personally. They nit-pick, are petty and demanding.

On the plus side, though, they may be more meticulous and caring than men.

That, at least, is the image that emerges from a Straits Times Interactive (STI) poll on women bosses conducted from last Wednesday to Friday.

Sixty-two per cent of the 860 respondents said they preferred to work under male bosses, while only 19 per cent plumped for female bosses.

The remaining 19 per cent had no preference.

While 50 per cent agreed that female bosses were more temperamental, only 15 per cent felt they were more capable than male bosses.

Separately, LifeStyle also interviewed 50 male and female workers aged between 20 and 60 on their views of women versus men bosses.

The results largely mirrored those of the STI poll, with more than half - and comprising an equal mix of both males and females - saying men make better bosses.

Reasons given in favour of male bosses include how they are fair, decisive, professional and less inclined to be affected by their own emotions.

Said lawyer Lorraine Sim, 30: 'Female bosses are usually more sensitive and hold grudges for a longer time.'

Account manager Teddy Foo, 40, added: 'Men are generally more flexible and focused on the larger picture, while women managers can be overly obsessed with details.'

To be fair, women bosses did get their share of positive comments.

Respondents agreed that females generally have better interpersonal skills.

'Women tend to be more people-oriented, while guys are more task-oriented. They won't ask you: 'What's wrong?' ' said Ms Carol Teo, 32, a corporate services manager.

The issue of how well women bosses perform came under the limelight recently following the ouster of former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina.

Although the unhappy merger with Compaq and patchy profit records have been cited by industry watchers as the main causes of her downfall, Ms Fiorina's detractors have also slammed her autocratic and risk-taking style.

Mr Roger Kay, an analyst at IT advisory firm IDC, told Reuters: 'I gave Carly extra points for being a woman. The community looked harshly at her because of that. She was in the spotlight the entire time and everyone was watching what she did.'

Ironically, Ms Fiorina - who was only one of eight women running a Fortune 500 company in the United States - was also known to motivate her staff with human touches such as get-well cards and thank-you notes.

Which raises the question: Are women really bosses from hell?

Human resource experts interviewed were quick to dismiss this perception, which they said stems from a 'career sexism' attitude.

'No self-respecting person with a brain on the right side will ever want to say that their women bosses are bitches,' said Mr David Leong, managing director of HR company PeopleWorldwide Consulting.

He said the negative stereotypes of women bosses as being emotional, fussy and incompetent are probably a result of men feeling increasingly threatened by their female counterparts.

'They ascribe such connotations to assert their authority since they are losing their tenuous hold on what limited power they have,' said Mr Leong.

Gender bender

IN SINGAPORE, women make up about 45 per cent of the workforce of 2.18 million people. Although no data is available, experts estimate that female managers make up about 25 to 30 per cent of the total figure.

If this year's International Management Action Awards (IMAA) are anything to go by - all four winners are men - local women managers still have some way to go in proving their worth in the higher echelons of the corporate world.

The award, which recognises innovative and exceptional management skills, is organised by the Chartered Management Institute Singapore and Spring Singapore.

Only five out of 20 winners in the past five years were women, including SembCorp Environmental Management president and CEO Loh Wai Kiew, Hyflux CEO and president Olivia Lum and managing director of United Parcel Services Singapore Mary Yeo.

Mr Kamal Kant, who runs career and training consultancy Next Transition, said that to date, no study has found that women are less suited to managerial careers than men.

'It is the personality, upbringing and life experiences that determine whether a boss is rational and realistic or ruthless and rough in his approach.'

Ms Ho Geok Choo, president of the Singapore Human Resource Institute, conceded that female bosses 'inevitably work very hard and are demanding because we are in the male domain'.

'But at the end of the day, the leadership qualities, and not the gender, of a boss are what really matters,' said Ms Ho, who is also vice-president of human resources at Singapore Airlines Engineering and a Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC.

The STI poll result concurs with the experts' views on this. Gender aside, 75 per cent of respondents picked 'ability on the job' as a major factor in assessing their bosses.

'As long as the person is capable and competent, it doesn't matter if he is male or female,' said marketing executive Eileen Wang, 30.

---

DARLINGS & DESPOTS

Stereotypes - both good and bad - abound when it comes to women bosses. YVONNE KOH and MAK MUN SAN ask the experts how true these really are

The Mother Hen

Typical traits: Maternal and nurturing, treats her subordinates as she would her own children, willing to condone shortcomings as long as they do not affect her own position. Loves to share food and creates a family-like office environment.

Likely to say: 'Let's eat first and talk later.'

Real-life story: Ms Nancy Cheong, 44, a copywriter: 'My ex-boss was a really caring woman. She had a kind word for everyone, even the worst performer in the department. However, a colleague took advantage of that and skived a lot. The boss took no action as he still delivered good work intermittently. But many of us became frustrated with her and it affected office morale.'

Expert's view: Mr David Ang, executive director of the Singapore Human Resource Institute, says that women are more empathetic. 'But if a female boss is too caring towards a poor performer, she might finally lose her patience. When that happens, she will appear like a bitch.'

---

The Micro-Manager

Typical traits: Demanding and fastidious, constantly on your back to hand in your projects on time, wants everything done her way, even keeps an eye on usage of company stationery.

Likely to say: 'Why didn't you recycle the paper?'

Real life story: Ms Janine Lim, 31, director of marketing, gives a micro-manager's side of the story: 'I have this employee who writes e-mail to prospective clients. Despite repeatedly highlighting his grammatical and font errors, he still commits them. Now, I have to vet his e-mail before it goes out. When I point out a missing full-stop, he asks: 'Where?' It really tries my patience.'

Expert's views: Experts say there is no hard evidence to support the theory that women bosses tend to nit-pick. Mr Paul Heng, managing director and principal consultant of career consultancy firm NeXT Career Consulting, adds: 'I micro-manage myself. People are what they are because of their life experiences.'

---

The Blinkered Boss

Typical traits: Likely to dwell on small issues and miss out on the big picture, not willing to take a gamble, prefers tried-and-tested solutions.

Likely to say: 'Are you sure this will work?'

Real-life story: Ms Jenny Chan, 24, a marketing executive: 'I worked for a female boss who fussed over small details. I was compiling quotations from suppliers to generate a purchase order (PO). Their English wasn't good, so there were a lot of spelling errors. I corrected the mistakes and standardised the PO's format. But my boss was unhappy, asking why I didn't follow the quotations. I had to change everything back, inconsistencies and all.'

Expert's views: Mr Andre Cheong, regional director of the PSD Group (Asia Pacific), an international executive search organisation, says: 'Women do tend to dwell more on details but that doesn't mean they lose sight of the big picture. Through training, they can take on strategic roles in developing the business.'

---

The High-flyer

Typical traits: Smart, efficient, popular, possesses both high IQ and EQ, a slave driver who knows when to loosen her grip to allow her subordinates space to breathe, sets high standards for herself and her team, does not suffer fools gladly.

Likely to say: 'Sorry for pushing you, but I know you can do the report by 5pm, right?'

Real-life story: Mr Desmond Quek, 33, an IT manager, says: 'I worked for a woman who was almost a dream boss. She led by example by working hard, but also knew how to encourage fun in the office when we were not chasing deadlines. But, as with all high-flyers, she was also a 'yes' woman. She rarely contradicted her boss, no matter how unreasonable the demands were.'

Expert's view:Ms Christine Sim, managing director of HR company Tact Business Services, says there is a difference between a self-employed boss and one who is a paid employee. 'Women entrepreneurs have sales targets to fulfill and can get nasty. It's easier for female bosses who are paid to manage other people to be nice.'

---