On a flight today I was sitting next to a 65ish year old (or so) woman who was on her way home and we were chatting about marketing, and the internet and social media. And then the conversation turned to business and leadership and she made the comment that “business is still a man’s world”.
So I asked her why she thought that? Her answer did not surprise me much – that the only women she had really seen succeed were one that could play the game like men. (though I am not sure what that really means, and being a guy, I am probably a bit blind to it anyway). So I went with my interpretation of this (in short) that women in business are marginalized because men downplay the importance of relationships over competition and winning.
I thought back to the conversation we had just had about social networking and its business application, social marketing. I then said to her that if we combine what she just said about business being a man’s game and what I said about social marketing being about relationships then the future looks different. I think the most successful businesses of the future are not only open to, but demanding of the skills that women may be (definitely are?) better than men at – building and maintaining strong relationships, listening without trying to fix everything, encouraging continued dialog. She thought about it for a moment and said “I don’t think I’ve looked at it that way (and honestly, until that conversation, I hadn’t either).
What do you think? Is there something to this or am I off my rocker?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Very interesting Dan. From what I see in B2B marketing, “business” – which I’ll define here as “the business of persuading and ultimately selling people on concepts” – is no more about relationships today than it has ever been. While tools may come and go – the psychology of business is a constant. You must build trust in order to persuade. Men don’t downplay the importance of relationships over competing and winning – men who compete and win, do so because they have they ability to influence their relationships.
Social media is most leveragable by those who understand how to influence and sell. It will not make you a more effective business person, if you are not an effective business person to begin with.
Bottom line – social media can expand the impact of influential people – but it will not make you an influential person – whether you are male or female. Take a look at the different blogs, facebook pages, LinkedIn profiles/activity, and tweets – for some, it’s a true business vehicle, for others – an extension of nothing,
When someone (be they male or female) is in a position of influence in the business world, it is typically a factor of how they choose to spend their time, and who they choose to spend it with – not their sex.
Kathy
Hi Kathy, I think the fundamental difference in our view point lies in your statement that ““the business of persuading and ultimately selling people on concepts” is what B2B marketing is all about. I continue to make the statement that the “sales cycle” is dead and it now a “buying cycle”. So marketing and sales moves from persuading people to take action to helping them to make a decision. (maybe we mean the same thing, maybe not). Social Marketing to me is about giving people the tools to know, like and trust you and your organization and to support what they probably have already discovered about you via a google or similar search. And that is where I think the ability to form and sustain relationships is key. Its not about using social media to influence and sell, but more about using it to guide people to the places where they can get more information for their buying process or collaborate. My proposition in the post is that women are better then men are at nurturing this type of process and this type of process is where more and more revenue will be generated. If the ability to influence and increase revenue = power and status in a company, then this helps women have more positions of influence and better workplace equality.
Hi Dan,
I am loving this – so please let me go on and on. I agree with your point on what social media allows the buyer to do. Level of impact on a complex B2B buy cycle can vary.
Social media is a compelling, fascinating phenomenon, but I don’t feel it gives women a leg up over men to be more influential – and more successful in the workplace. Try taking this article and substituting “telephone” for “social media”. You would convey the same message. If you believe women are natural relationship builders, the telephone should have been a real equalizer. (And it actually is – but that’s another discussion).
My position is – it’s not the tools that build influence, it’s the user. Lack of social media, or insufficient relationship building tools, is not what has “held women back” in the B2B workplace. It’s much deeper than that. It’s about personal choices about what careers to pursue/not pursue. As more women become engineers, consultants, scientists, sales executives, venture capitalists, investment bankers, etc., (and naturally progress into executive roles) you will find more women in positions of influence in the B2B world.
Good stuff,
Kathy
As the future stretches out before us, changes in what “work” requires definitely favors women. Louann Brizendine wrote a pair of books, “The Female Brain” and “The Male Brain.” They are well worth the read, especially if you look at the content in terms of identifiable current trends. Societal evolution is moving, at an ever increasing pace, away from the benefits provided by the male brain in favor of the female brain. A great deal of what is happening in the business and social world today is being moved by these gigantic evolutionary undercurrents.