I was given the privileged of hearing Dr. Lois Frankel speak, author of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers (A NICE GIRLS Book). She graciously accepted an invitation from the Southern California Psychiatric Society and gave myself and about twenty other female psychiatrists an opportunity to hear about common mistakes that women in the workplace make. I found it very interesting to hear that women use about 20,000 words per day while men use about 8,000 words. There are often many times when men and women have difficulties with communication, and some of the time it can be rooted in basic differences in how each gender communicates and what it takes for each person to feel heard and understood. There are many ways that people come up with action plans that are helpful in the workplace, but changing from being the ‘do’er of the company to the creator and ultimately the one making decisions in the corner office is something that takes more than just skill, it takes awareness of one’s communication style so that subtle changes can be made and teams can work more productivity.
