A woman boss! Do you have a problem with that?

“Is the boss a woman?”

“Err…yes. Is that a problem?”

“Oh, in that case, can I not apply for the post? I’m not interested to work with women bosses.”

Sounds familiar? You know what is worst….they have the guts to tell this to the face of a WOMAN. It’s sad when a candidate made this remark and sadder when it also came from the same species.

The prejudice continues…

Forbes revealed in their list of America’s Top-Paid Female CEOs and this is what they had discovered…

This year, America's top-paid female CEOs earned, on average, $3.9 million. Compare this to the men, who raked in an average of $11.9 million...

By and large, women had made great progress over the past century. Sweeping strides were seen in the academic field (the number of female graduates that far surpassed their male counterparts is a testimony to that) and the general workforce (definitely an increase over the past ten years as compared to fifty years ago).

But, and it’s a big BUT here, relatively few have made the journey all the way to the highest levels of leadership. And the few that made it were paid so much lesser than their male counterparts for the same job. Unfair, no?

Why? Is it because of the prejudices we hold that women' position is best found in the kitchen or home fixing meals and rearing children.

Or is it because women just do not seem to possess the competencies required for leaders?

From countless surveys done, the statistics say women HAVE what it takes to be a leader. One of these surveys was done by Women Leaders Study, and the results show that women are by no means inferior in their leadership capabilities when compared to men. In fact, they conclude they are by far better leaders (ah..hah)

Women Leaders Study

“women leaders are more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things done and are more willing to take risks than male leaders....Women leaders were also found to be more empathetic and flexible, as well as stronger in interpersonal skills than their male counterparts....enabling them to read situations accurately and take information in from all sides....These women leaders are able to bring others around to their point of view....because they genuinely understand and care about where others are coming from....so that the people they are leading feel more understood, supported and valued.”

Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi since 2006

So, the next time when you were told that your boss is going to be a woman, what would be your answer?