Society is changing as it always has throughout the millennia. The difference now, however, is the speed at which the changes are coming are faster than ever. How are we supposed to keep up, play nice and make the changes with confidence and grace? Yes, men, grace is for you, too.
Arguably, the most important factor in having a successful career is your work relationships. You know, it's not what you know, but who you know, etc...well...
A recent survey by Lean In, Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg’s organization, showed that relationships are suffering more and more for women lately.
- 60% of managers who are men are uncomfortable participating in a common work activity with a woman, such as mentoring, working alone, or socializing together.1 That’s a 32% jump from a year ago.
- Senior-level men are now far more hesitant to spend time with junior women than junior men across a range of basic work activities.3 They are:
· 12x more likely to hesitate to have 1-on-1 meetings
· 9x more likely to hesitate to travel together for work
· 6x more likely to hesitate to have work dinners
The Lean In survey also showed differences in how the genders perceive sexual harassment:
- 57% of women report that they’ve experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace, from hearing sexist jokes to being touched in an inappropriate way. And 24% of women say harassment is on the rise.
- By contrast, 27% of men say that harassment is decreasing. 50% of men say that the consequences are more damaging to the careers of harassers, not victims. Women tend to disagree: 64% say it’s the victims who end up paying a heavier price.
Tracy Lawrence joins Dr. Wendy to give us some advice on how we all can have better workplace relationships, why men are confused about how to be with women, and why it's worth their while to push through and figure it out.
Lawrence is the Founder and CEO of The Lawrence Advisory, a leadership consulting firm that advises Fortune 500 companies. She hires, coaches and builds high-performing teams. Her client roster includes The Walt Disney Company, Warner Media, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, and Strategic Global Advisors. She has held leadership roles at Viacom, Kraft, Nestle, and Price Waterhouse Coopers and she went to Stanford and Harvard. If you don’t have answers for us Tracy, I don’t know who does.
To read the recent survey by Lean In, CLICK HERE.
Listen to the full interview below!