A delicate topic … I know! At times even I catch myself thinking that there no longer are any glass ceilings, that women can go and achieve their every dream. And as far as job placements go, it looks as if women were preferred today to make the female-to-male ratio among C-executives look better. I am also thrilled to see how a generation of young parents today is better at sharing the work of raising children and handles such shared responsibilities far more thoughtfully.
And yet: Often enough I am bewildered to see highly qualified women at the helm of an organization presenting their ideas, concepts, programs, or principles who are then characterized — not even with malicious intent — by male colleagues or moderators with terms like “authentic, lively, likable” in a manner that would never be applied to men, and which has absolutely nothing to do with the performance of this woman. Oh, and to top it off, the unthinking offenders even think of themselves as suave and charming.
If we do not focus on competence and content in assessing applications and on performance after any appointment, regardless of sex, we will never bring the best to the top.