Someone today told me I was funny. It was flattering, and made me think of one of my old roommates (it’s a fuzzy memory as I can’t remember which roommate this was…) who would join with me in saying, “I’m pretty funny for a girl.”
Who doesn’t like to think they’re funny? It’s nice when you say stuff and people laugh. Usually.
I can kind of be funny around people I know. Around people I know, I can watch Last Comic Standing and think, “yeah, that would be a fun job.”
But then I go into a business meeting with new people and I can scarcely intelligently explain what it is I do, exactly. This happens mostly with groups of middle-aged men who have sold a couple companies to Microsoft in their time. These guys don’t need my jokes; they have their own inside jokes from the early days at IBM. Being around these kind of guys makes me feel like I should just sit down and take dictation. Not by anything they do, per se, but they just get me feeling so intimidated.
I don’t feel that way in a group of women, and I think that’s probably because I can see myself in those women. I can imagine what it would be like to ascend to that level professionally because I’ve seen them do it, and the ones I know do it with husbands and kids, too. It’s nice to start a meeting by hearing from an executive about how much fun she had with the kids on vacation the previous week, and then to jump in to talk strategy and how we can focus PR efforts around her current marketing pipeline.
Even in business, with a group of women you tend to speak nicely. You tend to ask for support when you need it. You tend to get support when you ask for it. You tend to get a laugh when you tell a joke.
Not to mention – keeping up a household, keeping your marriage intact and raising kids while excelling in your career? +1.
You know I think there’s just something about a girlfriend lunch, and there’s just something about dealing professionally with successful women. They’re professional, but they’re still women. They’re women, but they’re still professional.
2 comments:
Well said! I feel pretty much the same way... especially about the job ( work with the same kind of men)
I will always agree that you are funny. Always.
Oh, and for the record, wimpy boys who don't have the entrepreneur gene and haven't sold two companies to Microsoft also feel uncomfortable around those men.
And in some cases, I'm willing to bet their own spouses feel uncomfortable too ... that is until they get their husband's paycheck. Then, I'm sure they are just fine.
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