The Man's Guide to Corporate Culture

A Practical Guide to the New Normal and Relating to Female Coworkers in the Modern Workplace

Heather Zumarraga

• Publisher: HarperCollins Leadership
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781400219780
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Etiquette
• Index: Business

Studies have shown that 60% of male managers feel uncomfortable working one-on-one with their female colleagues. That's where The Man's Guide to Corporate Culture comes in.

Heather Zumarraga, a business journalist who has spent much of her career in testosterone-filled work environments, wants to make sure that any male leader who wants to be part of the solution knows how to do it the right way.

Heather provides you with logical solutions to complex gender issues and gives important, practical lessons for men and women alike.

The Man's Guide to Corporate Culture teaches you:

• Which behaviors to adopt (and which to avoid) to create and maintain a comfortable work environment for their female co-workers.
• How to create an environment that is not only welcoming to both women and men but also encourages healthy and respectful collaboration.
• And more real-world tested advice and approaches to help ensure every employee (and business) is best situated for success.

There are numerous business books that coach women to deal with bias and harassment in a male-dominated workplace. However, The Man's Guide to Corporate Culture is?one of the only books that coaches men on how to succeed?in the new normal.

1

It’s a Woman’s World. You’re Just Working in It.

The feminist movement has created confusion for men in the workplace.

Women now hold more US jobs than men.¹ So, let’s face it, if you can’t learn how to work with women, your career has no hope. This recent development reflects the future of the American workforce. The data confirms that labor market dynamics are tilting in the direction of women. Productivity and growth gains from adding women to the labor force are much larger than previously thought. A study by the International Monetary Fund finds that both genders bring very different skill sets and perspectives to the workforce, including different attitudes toward risk and collaboration, therefore boosting growth.² Studies also show that the financial performance of firms improves with more gender-equal corporate boards.³

Women in the Workforce

If you’re not working in an inclusive environment, your company is missing out. Among other cultural issues, this is one reason the iconic Victoria’s Secret suffered declining sales. At an investor meeting, the brand’s chief executive officer, John Mehas, said it was ready to evolve. He wants the brand perceived to be “by her, for her.”⁴ But here’s a problem: Victoria’s Secret’s leadership is predominantly male, and almost all the people at the investor meetings are men. Well, how’s that going to work out?

Everyone knows there’s more work to be done for women to achieve so-called equality, but look how far we’ve come. Slowly but surely, we’re getting there. For us women, the dark ages have passed. We are living in the Renaissance for aspiring professional women. Fortune 500 executives are still male-dominated, yet there are a record number of female CEOs.⁵

In 2020, Jane Fraser became the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank, Citigroup. Fraser’s ascension to CEO is groundbreaking in the financial industry, which has a long-standing reputation as a boys club, where men dominate the upper ranks of banks.

During the pandemic, Clorox jumped 22 percent in sales when the board named a female to CEO. Marillyn Hewson led defense company Lockheed Martin; e-commerce giant eBay’s success is due to Meg Whitman; and auto manufacturer General Motors survived because of Mary Barra. These women have all made it to the top on a combination of brains, brass, and savvy that equals or exceeds any of their male peers in corporate America. These companies are better because of these women and wouldn’t be what they are without them.

Marillyn Hewson steered Lockheed Martin to the forefront of security, aerospace, and technology. She developed the F-35 fighter jet program to address modern military needs and increased market value to nearly $100 billion. Time magazine identified Hewson as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”⁶

Billionaire Meg Whitman is best known for taking eBay from $5.7 million to $8 billion in sales and joined the boards of both Procter & Gamble and Dropbox.⁷

And Mary Barra surpassed Rick Wagoner as the longest-serving chief executive officer of General Motors. She has the distinction of leading the US automaker out of bankruptcy.⁸

In another statistic, women now earn more college degrees than men. Women earn more than half of all bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees. This is a big financial benefit for women, because holding college and advanced degrees closely correlates with higher salaries, according to the Pew Research Center.⁹

Women in less visible roles aren’t asking men to help as often as they used to, and men are less apt to offer, as they assume an equal level of technical competence in their female colleagues. Female upward mobility is an accepted part of everyday corporate life. There are fewer “firsts” for women entering new leadership roles, and it’s a great time for women in the workplace.

Fear of Women in the Workplace

Given these new revelations: Are you a man who is uncomfortable meeting one-on-one with women in the workplace? Are you fearful of the coed office environment? Do you think a female coworker has it “out” for you? If so, you’re not alone. You need to ask yourself how many of these feelings are tied to what’s going on in the media and if you’re doing everything you can not to be part of the problem.

According to a joint survey by SurveyMonkey and LeanIn.org, 60 percent of male managers surveyed revealed discomfort participating in normal workplace activities with women, such as mentoring and socializing.¹⁰ These attitudes, while understandable in an atmosphere of fear, are detrimental for men and women and the companies that hire them.

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Sixty percent of male managers surveyed revealed discomfort participating in normal workplace activities with women, such as mentoring and socializing.

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If you refuse to meet with women one-on-one, to hire women, or to participate in regular work activities with women, you’re depriving yourself and your company of talent that half of the population possesses. You are missing different ideas and opinions—similar to how our government operates through a system of checks and balances by both political parties. A woman may give you that eureka winning moment of input and information that you never thought of before.

If you refuse to work with the opposite sex, there’s no question that it will be impossible to learn how to coexist in this new environment. Your company’s talent pool will be at a disadvantage, and the quality of your work output may suffer without a woman’s point of view.

To avoid the appearance of sexual discrimination in the workplace—if you refuse to meet with a female colleague, then you will also have to refuse to meet with a man one-on-one. Does that make sense? How can you do your job without ever having a one-on-one meeting with anyone? Why not just leave the door to your office open (Secret Rule #6) when a coworker, colleague, or someone you supervise is meeting with you one-on-one in your office? How about a transparent glass door? These are some ways you can get over your fear of workplace meetings with the opposite sex.

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To avoid the appearance of sexual discrimination in the workplace—if you refuse to meet with a female colleague, then you will also have to refuse to meet with a man one-on-one.

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To avoid feeling uncomfortable at one-on-one business meals, a great idea is to invite everyone out as a group (Secret Rule #3). This not only makes the individuals in the group more accessible to you, it makes you accessible to them. In fact, it’s more equitable and allows everyone you work with access to one another, instead of playing favorites and fostering an appearance of bias and the resentment that inevitably flows from employees sniffing favoritism.

Executives in the Hot Seat

Companies have become much more active in enforcing policies around employee relationships. McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Stephen Easterbrook was fired for having a consensual and amicable relationship with another employee, even though Easterbrook almost doubled the equity valuation of the company in only four years.

Contractual obligations with companies can exceed the standards established by statutes and court decisions. For example, McDonald’s personal conduct policy does not allow managers to have romantic relationships with “direct or indirect reports.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, although the fast-food giant did not provide details about the relationship, Easterbrook said (in an email to employees) that his conduct had violated company policy. “This was a mistake,” he wrote. “Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on.”¹¹

McDonald’s decision to act may be a sign of progress on workplace issues that have come to light in the #MeToo era, said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

“Other companies don’t always act on that kind of information or fire their CEO for that [a consensual relationship], and so it seems like they are trying to enforce a pretty strict policy in this situation,” Tobias said.¹² While Easterbrook obviously did not violate federal law, he was forced to forfeit $22 million in unvested options when he was dismissed for breach of contract over his relationship with the employee. Talk about an expensive date!

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“Other companies don’t always act on that kind of information or fire their CEO for that [a consensual relationship], and so it seems like they are trying to enforce a pretty strict policy in this situation,” Tobias said.

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And Easterbrook’s not alone. Intel’s chief executive officer, Brian Krzanich, also resigned over a consensual relationship after an independent examination brought things to light. The company, one of the world’s largest makers of semiconductor chips, said that the relationship violated the company’s nonfraternization policy.

Should an employer really be the romance police? Do corporations really have any business telling you (as an employee) who to fall in love with?

Unfortunately, clearly the answer is yes—especially with high-profile executives. Sexual harassment is no longer just about sex; it’s about power and perception. Workplace romances between individuals at opposite ends of the power spectrum are sexual harassment claims waiting to happen, and when someone is in a relationship with a senior member of the company, coworkers will scrutinize every raise, accolade, and acknowledgment, creating a hostile work environment for everyone aware of the relationship.

Due to a change of heart, a previously amicable partner may become a jilted ex depending on how the relationship unfolded. Thus, suddenly, the narrative flips, and the company can become liable for the behavior.

Here’s another case: ride-hailing service Uber has become a prime example of a Silicon Valley start-up culture gone awry. The company was exposed for having a workplace culture that included sexual harassment and discrimination.¹³ That tone was set by Travis Kalanick, who aggressively turned the company into the world’s dominant service and upended the transportation industry around the globe. The toxic culture at Uber, amid allegations of sexual harassment and troubling reports that human resources did not sufficiently intervene, sent up a glaring red flag about his leadership.¹⁴

These allegations went public and the company was slammed in the media for looking the other way. Despite Kalanick’s incredible success and growth, the board of directors eventually relented to pressure and forced him out.¹⁵ While Kalanick himself faced no specific claims of harassment, every public or private company is expected to define and articulate the culture an...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Who Is This Book For?
• How to Read This Book
• Introduction
• 1. It’s a Woman’s World. You’re Just Working In It
• 2. How Did We Get Here?
• 3. The Pendulum Has Swung Too Far
• 4. Let Mars Be Mars and Venus Be Venus
• 5. Building Relationships Across the Gender Divide
• 6. Surviving and Thriving With a Female Boss
• 7. Communication Is Your Key to Success
• 8. What Women Want At Work
• 9. Romance In the Office
• 10. The Secret Rules to Successfully Work With Women
• 11. The Seven Deadly Sins On the Job
• 12. How to Protect Yourself
• 13. Playing the Corporate Gentleman Part
• 14. Corporate Etiquette for Men
• 15. Influencing Your Corporate Culture
• 16. How Your Employer Can Help You
• 17. Peaceful Coexistence In the Inclusive Workplace
• 18. What’s Next for the Modern Corporate World?
• 19. Conclusion
• Recap
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Endnotes
• Index
• About the Author