Top 5 Mistakes Women Managers Make

Just read an excerpt in The NY Times today from O, The Oprah Magazine, Suzy Welch March ‘07. Just when you thought you had challenges as a person of color.  Here are some of the missteps that women tend to make.  I know I have definitely fell into a few of these mindfields in my career! Most managerial mistakes cut across gender lines.  But there are a handful of mistakes women bosses tend to make more. 1) Mismanaging emotional distances.  Women tend to veer between being Ice Queens, cool and distant,” and “earth Mothers,” who invited too much emotionality into their relationships with employees.  They need a balance. 2) Creating workplace Edens.  There is nothing inherently wrong with trying to meet the professional and personal needs of employees,” but you need to know where to draw the line. 3) Retaining bad employees too long.  If you have hired the wrong person, fire them and move on. 4) Having a single mentor.  Ms. Welch says you probably would do better by drawing on the experience of as many people as possible. 5) The most important thing in the world is no longer your success- it’s the success of your people