Are all business women crazy?
"All women are crazy and all men are stupid," said a well-known author when I recently met them at Atlanta's St Regis Hotel for a cocktail.
How true. I know many women will throw their arms up in the air at this one and it is a gross generalisation - but if you think about it, it actually is closer to the truth than most women entrepreneurs would like to admit.
While I try in earnest to be consistent, without too many overwhelming changes to my personality, I think most people who know me well, would say I am a tad crazy - just like all my other female friends. I won't react quite like I use to when it comes to anything emotional or otherwise, because as you get older, the chances are you can hold it in a little more, but YES I do over-think things and I definitely react irrationally at times when I would prefer to not have reacted at all.
How true. I know many women will throw their arms up in the air at this one and it is a gross generalisation - but if you think about it, it actually is closer to the truth than most women entrepreneurs would like to admit.
While I try in earnest to be consistent, without too many overwhelming changes to my personality, I think most people who know me well, would say I am a tad crazy - just like all my other female friends. I won't react quite like I use to when it comes to anything emotional or otherwise, because as you get older, the chances are you can hold it in a little more, but YES I do over-think things and I definitely react irrationally at times when I would prefer to not have reacted at all.
In business, it's easier to keep it in. The reality is that we are all playing a role and its hard to be the real "you" 24/7. I don't go around running and screaming but admittedly, I do so, sometimes, on the inside. More often than I would like to admit, I just want to say "WTF" at people doing completely stupid things or those who just don't get it. But mostly I don't, because that would mean I was crazy and a really bad leader.
Today, I encountered a woman in business who just lost her "shit". I know there is no excuse for doing that in public, but there was a part of me that had empathy. It is hard being a woman, running a family, and living the perfect life. I look at it differently these days when people do things that are completely unrational to the detriment of themselves and their personal brands. I think about how they will think about it the next day - if that makes sense. However, if they don't look back and think that they are completely out-of-line or could have done things differently, I have a different outlook on whether or not I would do business with them or not.
This made me wonder, are all women crazy and is there some type of chemical imbalance that sends us all to the "nut house" sometimes? Maybe not out loud to the world, but I would say, even the most quiet and unassuming business woman has moments that they want to yell and scream.
What I found out, which isn't rocket science - I admit, is that stress affects hormones, hormones affect brain chemistry, and brain chemistry affects stress.
When any of these three aspects of a woman's health gets out of balance, it starts off a vicious cycle that can send a woman crazy.
How does this affect your business?
Simple, if there was some way other than through drugs, to moderate your temperament and see the world different - mainly through rose colored glasses - women would be less stressed, more productive and live a happier, more fulfilling life.These things help:
- Taking vitamins
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Talking through things and never letting them boil up
- Trusting yourself and others around you
- Seeing the world differently
- Thinking positively in every situation
What do you think? Am I out of order in generalising here?
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comment ( 1 )
April Spadina
28 Apr 2013I think that we all have a little bit of crazy on the inside whether we are running a business, family or just our own lives. Most of the time its wonderfully filtered, but sometimes the filtration system malfunctions and we become a little crazy on the outside! Unfortunately, this isn't pretty and most of us spend days (years) regretting it afterwards!
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