Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Women on top

I dont know which is harder; being a lady boss or an asian woman. It is so freaking difficult when everyone gets defensive whenever I pose a question that I want to slap them then and there. It doesn’t get any easier when I am the only female at my level. Heck, one “peer” has yet to acknowledge my presence despite having daily meetings but I was told by the HR guy that it could be due to the fact that I have more knowledge and experience in what he is doing. Dude, I am not taking over your job. Get real!

Thankfully the directors are sensible enough to entertain my requests in my pursuit to understand the business and my role better. Slowly I am gaining respect from some staff upon their discovery of my background.

It is not easy to be a woman on top, especially when you are asian, in an environment where most people are old-school-minded.

7 comments:

  1. Hang on there... people everywhere tend to be judgmental! I'm sure you can prove to them in no time :)

    Hope you are enjoying the change!

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  2. B,

    Where i am now.. facing more or less same problem, but from a group of professional who can't think out-of-the-box at all. And since most engineer are 35 - 50yrs old... and with me, not looking my age, it's a hindrance to perform my daily works.

    But, I feel that... YOU CAN DO IT!

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  3. momster,

    I hardly have time to browse the net and while lunch seems to be like coffee break. :( 2-3 meetings a day (which can last like forever!). Today I went out for a 20-minute stroll just to get away from office and keep myself cool.

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  4. aporn,

    I have to set my records straight with these people. they cant expect me to sign things blindly, esp when the numbers are in millions. hopefully things will improve.

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  5. I got what u mean Ms B. Even in our local context, some Jurassic-minded male still think that only men rule. While for me, I prefer to have lady boss :-)

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  6. i like the title! haha ;)

    hang in there! i was in a similar situation before and blew-up once , only to regret later. but i felt good though..hehe

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  7. Just need a lot of gumption darling... LOTS and LOTS of it. :)

    I am the only 'woman' team manager in my team. The other one surrendered and resigned. So far, in operations, there had only been 3 woman team managers. we have over 15 different processes.

    I guess, I have pretty much conveyed to the people I work with, I am a nice woman, but if you dont do your work, I will be the toughest manager to deal with.

    Gumption... and I think you will do fine. :)

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Please add sugar