Removing Gender From Leadership

Genderization of management and culture is toxic whether we are from Mars or Venus, it’s the overplayed hand and the gender bias that is the problem, not the cis male or cis female norm. We need to smash the “Archy” – both Patri and Matri. Neither allow us to grow up and be adults in our careers. I really struggled with adding my pronouns to my bios and signature. I really wanted to signal to trans people that I am a safe space, but I was also stuck on assigning myself a gender, as I don’t see it as relevant to my work. I’ve settled on “she/her – gender non conforming” which I think makes the point.
slotpgBy hemming ourselves into outdated stereotypes about cis male and cis female traits we are preventing the fluidity required for the complex workplaces that exist in the twenty first century. We need leaders who can operate in complexity and apply situational reflexivity, not biologically determined to stay within a narrow band of behavior. And we are undermining disabled, female, LGBTQIA+ and BIPoC leaders from taking the stage. Here’s to the post-gender workplace and the creativity it might herald.