Do Men Manage Teams Differently Than Women?

I went to Chile for a month to study Andean shamanism.

Over 30 of us came from all over the world to study woo. The crew included former Olympians, doctors, therapists, business people, and even a firefighter. We learned about esoteric healing practices and Andean cosmology.

But the real lessons were in group dynamics and organizational behavior.

One day we were tasked with creating a ceremony. We split into two groups and two leaders were randomly chosen. One was a business guy (T.) in between gigs. The other was a woman (C.) who ran leadership training workshops.

Their styles were completely opposite. T. was a delegator. He picked a #2 and divisional heads in charge of various aspects of the ceremony (e.g. decorations, music, choreography, rituals). He then lay in a hammock. His #2 would report back from time to time.

By contrast C. was collaborative and right in the thick of things. Everyone had input and got to choose how they could contribute. People would go off, do their thing, and then check in with her often. It was consensual, and she worked alongside her team.

Both ceremonies were lovely. You wouldn’t have known which team had done which ceremony, though one team seemed happier. Guess which? But that experience got me thinking about gender and management styles.

When I started my money management business, I deliberately sought out to create a different culture. I didn’t want Wall Street’s dog-eat-dog mindset. I observed that in general, women were more comfortable with my style while men were often frustrated by it. 

As a business owner, leading people is both a great opportunity and a challenge. Sorting out cultural expectations and norms from our own personal strengths and weaknesses is critical.