WAFFLE STOMPERS.
My buddy Fred and I have worked retail for a number of years. We work for competing companies, but we often get together to "talk shop." This week we discussed a management trend that some companies tend to lean towards frequently, in spite of their public denials to the contrary.
Fred told me that over at his company, they would bend over backwards to promote minorities into management, only for the reasons that they need the tax credits and they need to stay out of legal hot water. When it comes to women in management, Fred tells me that his employer has a tendency to promote mostly those women who are very curt, abrupt, abrasive, patronizing, arrogant, and very "man-ish" in their dress and their behavior.
Fred thinks that his company understands a reality that many people don't want to admit. Regular women are too nice, compassionate, and caring to make it in the viscious jungle of upper management. To kill two birds with one stone, companies like Fred's will eagerly promote flannel shirt wearing, tool-belt toting, waffle boot wearing, motorcycle riding lesbians to upper management, because they get things done, when other women are doing their makeup in the office or planning their shopping.
Fred told me something his store manager shared with him once.
"If you want to please the customer, charm their shorts off, and make a sale, hire a woman. If you actually want to get things done, hire a man. If you want to kick ass, take names, and leave them cowering in a corner, hire a lesbian."
When Fred told me that, I couldn't help but think about a person in management at my store who fits that very profile. The funny thing is, everyone in the store absolutely despises her. What she doesn't realize is that while she may possibly get up to Regional management, her abrasiveness will automatically disqualify her for the CEO chair. She'll never come within miles of it.
I believe that's what Al Gore calls "An Inconvenient Truth."
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