Yes, you read that correctly.
In 2003 Harvard Business School conducted what is commonly known as the Heidi/ Howard Study on gender differences. Subsequently, there has been significant research supporting the study’s conclusion, which is that women are perceived as either competent or likable.
This double bind for women in large part stems from ‘role congruity’—our expectations of how women and men are ‘supposed’ to behave.
Women are expected to be nurturing by nature, and to take care of relationships before themselves. In fact, both men and women believe that women ‘should’ be nurturing and, if a woman fails to meet our random standard for what ‘nice’ is, we automatically and unconsciously categorize her as ‘not nice’ or ‘not nice enough.’
These ‘not nice enough’ women make both genders terribly uncomfortable and confused. We simply don’t know what to do with a woman who doesn’t put ‘nice’ above everything else, which makes ‘gender role violation’ tantamount to a cultural felony.
Both societal expectation and the internalized need to be liked is what holds so many women back from achieving success, status and the leadership role of their choice.
Why?
On the other side of the equation is competence, which often precludes ‘being nice’.
Leadership roles require the demonstration of traits that are generally incongruent with female stereotypes. The groupthink on competence is one who is:
Assertive
Independent
Aggressive
Self-promoting
Rational
Linear
Opinionated
Unemotional
Need we wonder, any longer, why so many women have difficulty navigating the jungle gym of leadership? And why they leave?
Women have to make a choice they shouldn’t have to make:
Be competent or be liked.
You may be telling yourself that this doesn’t apply to you- that you don’t discriminate, you hold no biases and that ‘other’ people make up these
stereotypes. Maybe it doesn’t, and maybe you don’t.
The core issue is that stereotypes and biases are typically unconscious, which means we don’t know what we don’t know, and what we don’t know we don’t change. Not incidentally, I recently conducted my own research on this subject. Although it wasn’t statistically significant, it was telling. Here’s what I did—
PhotoFeeler.com is a free site that allows subscribers to vote on the traits they perceive you possess, simply by looking at your photo. First impressions, after all, are lasting impressions. This allows you to select the photo most likely to help you achieve your specific goal (job search, dating, social, etc.).
I have several professional pictures that I use for different purposes and the people who follow me tend to comment on the ones they prefer (and the ones they don’t). I put my follower’s favorite photo to the test to get feedback for my LinkedIn Profile.
The LinkedIn traits they vote on are: competent, likable, and influential. (Yes, I too thought that was curious).
Based on the research previously sighted I suspected, in advance, that people would perceive me to be either competent or likable, but not both.
And the results were….
Across the board I was perceived as competent (97%) and influential (100%). However, only 58% of the voters perceived me as likable. Hmmm…. Solid proof of anything? No. Interesting? Very.
So how do you change stereotypes?
Pay attention to your thoughts about gender, race, and everything
Uncover your hidden beliefs and make the necessary changes in your thinking
Identify what sits in the gap between what you think and how you act
Teach yourself how to be competent and likable, while being authentically you
Know when competence needs to trump likability and vice-versa
Worth mentioning: This isn’t a ‘female problem’; it’s a people problem and both genders need to resolve it.
I’d love to get your thoughts, comments, and opinions. Please weigh in below—your voice is very much needed.
Please share in the comment section below — we’d love to learn from you.
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Nancy D. Solomon, MA Psych is the CEO and Founder of The Leadership Incubator where she helps leaders identify, address and resolve people problems before they become profit problems so everyone can focus on what they were hired to do-- INNOVATE AND DRIVE GROWTH.
Known as The Impact Expert, she is a main stage speaker, expert trainer and veteran coach who helps leaders solve key issues related to leadership development, employee engagement, and advancing women.
Nancy has made a difference for such companies as Microsoft, Target, Acura, Westin, Nordstrom & ADP as well as with many passionate individuals.