Before I begin this, you should know that this is not going to be a man bashing blog.  I love men.  The men I get to hang around with are fun, intelligent and kind.  I’m actually married to the best man I know.  However, I believe there are advantages to being a woman.  No offense to all those great guys out there.  I’m not sure that as women we look at ourselves as having advantages or gifts, but I think we should.

First of all, the whole multi-tasking thing.  Seriously.  Have you ever watched a man try to multi-task?  Oh, they may START one task and then start another, but the first one will not get finished because, bless their hearts, they can only focus on one thing at a time.  This makes them really great at their careers because they are laser focused on the task at hand, however, the world could be falling apart around them and they would never know.  As a woman, I tend to take pride in the fact that in the classroom I can tie shoes, teach a lesson, send a kid to the bathroom, AND catch a kid trying to do something they shouldn’t, all at the same time.  It’s necessary.  For instance, I’m going out of town tomorrow.  I have laundry going, I’m creating a packing list in my head, I worked on a presentation for next week AND I’m writing my blog for the evening.  How else would I get everything done?

THIS is why there should be more women running for office.  The reason we can’t get anything done right now in D.C. is because the men can’t do more than one thing at a time and there are too many things to do at once.  Let’s get some women in there and we could whip out tax reform, healthcare, and allocate the proper amount to fund ESSA,   and still have time to grab takeout, pick up kids from school and help them with their homework later.  Cause I’m a woman….. Oh sorry.  Too militant? But I digress….

Women see details that men miss.  I think men are always looking at the big picture.  Not that they can’t see the details, but they only see the ones they think are important.   My husband is great about sharing the load at home because we’re both busy people, however, his idea of a clean apartment and mine are different because I see details that I think matter.  The smudge on the coffee table, the dust on the table, the inside of the microwave.  Why doesn’t anyone ever clean out the microwave?!?  We tend to make each other crazy when teaching marching band because he’s the big picture guy (literally) and I’m the detail visual tech.  I want to fix feet, horn angles, and pathways and he just wants to run the set to see how it all works together.  So I make him wait until I get the details fixed first : ) This again is why women are great in leadership positions.  They see the logistical details that I believe men can miss.  The details that make the big picture better.

Women are sensitive to the feelings of others and are sensitive themselves, which some consider a weakness.  I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at someone and can tell they’re down or stressed and men either don’t see it or dismiss it.  Just suck it up, right?  When you’re working with people, it’s important to recognize and acknowledge that the person may need a break or needs to talk.  When a person feels validated and listened to, it’s much easier to work together.  I think men have a really hard time doing that.  I also believe, that in an effort to be more “business like”, women try to behave the same way.  I think that strategy ultimately backfires as the person needing the validation may shut down or go elsewhere.  If we want to have a positive, productive relationship, whether it’s personal or business, it’s important to be sensitive to the needs of the people around you.  Don’t dismiss the gift just because men don’t tend to use it.

And can we talk about intuition?  The fact that sometimes as women we just “know”?  Too many times we dismiss that feeling because it doesn’t seem logical or someone may not take us seriously.  But how many times has your intuition been right?  How many times could you see or anticipate disaster coming and you watched it happen or stopped it from happening?  As an observer of life (and details), I think women are gifted in this area and need to embrace it.

The fact is, women and men are different.  Not better, not worse, just different.  Working together and using our strengths, I think would only increase productivity and develop greater relationships.  But women need to own up to the fact that what we have and what we do matters and that we make a difference in people’s lives because of our gifts.  And then maybe we need to stretch ourselves to see where those gifts take us.  While sometimes it can be a struggle, being a leader in what is considered a man’s world is exciting and stimulating and I am proud of the gifts I have been given to use. What would a world look like with more women in leadership and/or elected positions?  There’s only one way to find out.  Let’s all step out together and see.