Obviously I'd like to believe the contention in this piece, but I have to say I'm slightly dubious. First, I don't know why sexuality has to be singled out like this, even in a positive way. Some people are good bosses because their personalities are like that, and they could be gay or straight or any of the shades in between.
Even if one allows, just for the sake of discussion, that sexuality might make a difference in your workplace skills, I still don't see why this should automatically make gay men better bosses. The article quotes a writer saying "Gay people are constantly having to dodge and weave and assess how and where they're going as they grow up. And that manifests itself as three huge skills: adaptability, intuitive communications, and creative problem-solving." And yes, I can see how that happens, but against it I can put other things. I know gay men who become so obsessed with controlling all aspects of their lives that it probably seeps into their work as well, making them annoying bosses. And if straight men can be affected by sexy women colleagues, gay men will be affected by sexy male colleagues - and that doesn't just have to manifest itself as sexually harassing them, as one nasty stereotype has it. In fact it can go the other way. You can be so scared of seeming to sexually harass someone that you just seize up and become ultra formal. I know that I'm not always comfortable around really good looking colleagues - not because I'm afraid I'll let go and ravish them, but because I often do become tongue tied and nervous around really good looking guys, whether at parties or the workplace. My own, very limited experience, of being a boss was certainly not great. Years back when I worked in advertising I had two people working under me - one, a guy, with who I got on famously (he was completely straight and I wasn't attracted to him, but he was cool and we became friends) and a woman with who, well, I did not. Normally I get on very well with women, but this one was just a cow and I loathed her and since I didn't know how to deal with women, I just stopped dealing with her and ended up doing most of her work. And I was doing most of the guy's work too because we were friends and I wasn't delegating to him as I should have. As might be expected my career as a boss was not great and it was one of the reasons that pushed me to leave advertising and become a journalist where I was careful never to get into a situation where I have people working under me. But this is me, and I can think of other gay guys who are probably great bosses. So what do people think - does your sexuality affect your ability to be a boss? And what have your experiences been? Vikram Why Gay Men Make the Best Bosses America's most desirable managers all have one thing in common: homosexuality. Read our take then post your comments below. By Danielle Sacks http://men.style.com/details/blogs/details/workplace_sexuality/index.h tml Only three months into his senior manager gig at a Fortune 500 company, Matthew Klein was in way over his head. "I finally walked into my boss's office, threw my hands in the air, and said, 'I'm feeling totally overwhelmed and inadequate,'" he explains. "I basically had a breakdown." Many managers would have reacted to such a display by telling him to get back out there and grow a pair. But Klein's boss had the opposite reaction: First he reassured Klein he was doing a great job, then he helped him prioritize his workload so that it became manageable. "It's not like he's this fuzzy guy who would reach across the table and hug you in a meetinghe's tough as nails," says Klein of Robert Ollander-Krane, who is director of learning and development for the company. "But he allowed me to be completely honest about my circumstances. Now we have this huge foundation of trust." Wouldn't that be nicea boss who actually gave a damn. And while it's not conclusive, evidence suggests that one of the reasons Ollander- Krane is so effective is that he's part of a new breedgay managers who could be becoming America's most desirable bosses. In The G Quotient: Why Gay Executives Are Excelling as Leaders . . . and What Every Manager Needs to Know, author and USC business-school professor Kirk Snyder argues that gay bosses embody a style of personalized attention that allows high-maintenance Gen Xers and Yers to maximize their performance. "Gay executives tend to look at how each individual brings unique abilities, and they see their job as figuring out how best to take advantage of those skills," he says. In fact, during Snyder's five-year study of American executives, he stumbled on some startling findings: Gay male bosses produce 35 to 60 percent higher levels of employee engagement, satisfaction, and morale than straight bosses. This is no small achievement: According to human-resources consulting firm Towers Perrin, only a measly 14 percent of the global corporate workforce are fully engaged by their jobs. And the Saratoga Institute, a group that measures the effectiveness of HR departments, found that in a study of 20,000 workers who had quit their jobs, the primary motivator for jumping ship was their supervisors' behavior. So what makes gay bosses different? It may have to do with the way they survived high school. "Gay people are constantly having to dodge and weave and assess how and where they're going as they grow up," says Snyder. "And that manifests itself as three huge skills: adaptability, intuitive communications, and creative problem- solving." In other words, your boss is cool with your leaving a little early one day a week to pick up your kid from school, or happy to offer a learning experience that helps you close a crucial deal. Gay executives note that the reflection and candidness required for coming out mean that by the time they get to the workplace, gay men are often secure in their identity and don't feel the need to abuse people in order to boost their ego. "It makes you really honest with yourself and everyone around you," says Chris McCarthy, a vice president at MTV Networks who came out 10 years ago. He believes the experience has allowed him to tap into the individual needs of his seven team members, including two discontented employees whom he recently helped find new positions within the company. "I think it's really important that you give people the opportunity to have self- respect, even if that means helping them leave a job in the way they want to," he explains. And this kind of empathetic management style is both gay and straight benefiting employees. When Brian Wachur, 23, wasn't getting the promotion he'd been waiting for at his D.C. PR firm, he approached his gay manager, Jason Smith. "I was nervous about what he was going to say, but he was able to tell me where I could improve in a really constructive way," he says. "It was a big contrast to other managers I had had in the past." Wachur soon got the new title, and he now considers Smith his professional mentor. "It's definitely surprising to me that I have a 38-year-old gay male in my life who is such a huge influence." Matthew Klein says that working for a gay boss has taught him that emotionally honest doesn't equate to weak in the workplace. "Your typical hetero male is programmed as a boy that there are two emotions: angry and tired," he says. "These are gross limitations that restrict our ability to be great managers." But being gay doesn't give you a monopoly on management skills. "The only managers that succeed are ones that have energy and are outgoing and interested," says Richard Laermer, the gay CEO of a New York- based PR firm and co-author of Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution. "If that's a gay thing, then mazel tov, but I know the same number of straight managers who are emotional and caring." And one gay vice president at a financial firm says his leadership traits come from his life history, not from anything related to his sexual orientation. "I was in the military, in a fraternity, and played a varsity sport," he says. "I feel like I spend my life explaining that what I'm saying or doing has nothing to do with the fact that I'm gay." That said, if your new boss happens to be gay, chances are you'll be happier and more fulfilled in your job. And even if you're not, the consolation is that there's still one area in which he's likely to excel. Says Smith, "We throw the fiercest holiday parties." Posted by stylemens 2:33:27 PM Comments great - and true! capnjon Feb 15, 2007 11:07:46 AM what if you think your boss is closeted? elcerulo Feb 15, 2007 3:02:06 PM This is basically saying that gay men tend to have better personalities than straight men. Um, good thing we aren't generalizing... nyk718 Feb 21, 2007 1:02:52 PM This article sounds almost as though it were written ABOUT my boss. Just today I needed to leave early for a dinner date. His response to my request? "Have a good time. :)" After 5+ years of working for this man, I couldn't be happier. rednoc Feb 21, 2007 6:23:12 PM One shouldn't make these generalizations. My experience with a gay boss is exactly the opposite. I was actually excited about our new boss, who was openly gay. He seemed upbeat, creative and thoughtful, and I thought we'd have a really positive work environment. He turned out to be a power-hungry paranoid suck-up who would throw anyone under the bus to make himself look good. He talked badly about people behind their backs and then got completely outraged and lashed out at our entire group when he thought someone had said something about him (which wasn't even true). He demanded total loyalty, but rather than respect his employees he instead acted like he was so much better -- smarter, more creative, wittier. It got to the point that I eventually left the company because of him. cocomuyloco Feb 21, 2007 8:24:56 PM I have to disagree with the blanket statement that gay men make better bosses--better CO-WORKERS, perhaps, but certainly not better bosses. I worked for a very large department store in the Men's Suits department--store name beginning with "N". My gay boss was bitchier and far more gossipy than ANY woman I ever worked for. Having said that, my best friend is a gay man and was my Man of Honor in my wedding. He knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about...maybe I'm making a blanket statement about one very bad experience, but this gay boss told horrible lies about me, other straight women and generally had a problem telling the truth. He sued another large company ("M") based on a fake discrimination lawsuit just to get money from Federation. I would be terrified to work for another gay man because of the backstabbing, lies, and absolute lack of scruples this man possessed. Divajulia Feb 22, 2007 1:49:27 PM What the author says is true and makes logical sense. The best boss I ever had was in the finance industry and he was an out of the closet gay man. He was one of the toughest bosses but also the most fair and inclusive. He gave me a shot at developing a new service line and the autonomy to do it to the best of my ability. Interesting take on the management crisis in America. mojofixer Feb 22, 2007 4:25:48 PM Will it be discriminatory to post a job listing saying: "gay men preferred"? In the American Indiana world of old gay tribesmen were honored since they had the intuition of both sexes. twight Feb 23, 2007 2:01:51 PM I gotta admit, I love my gay boss. Way more than I've ever loved my straight bosses, most of whom spent the majority of our interactions looking at my tits. I don't think all straight bosses are like that -- I think I just have better luck with gay men in the work place. I'm more sure of their motivations. Straker Feb 23, 2007 9:08:48 PM Hard to generalize. I am a gay boss and find that staff feel very comfortable coming to me with issues, much more so than to our straight female director. Not sure if it has to do with how I negotiated high school! On the other hand, I have known snarky gay coworkers that no one wanted to work for.... hunta Feb 24, 2007 8:14:10 AM As a young handsome male that's KINDA gay, older gay mentor-like males and females have enriched my life in great ways. Gay mentors have helped me get over personal conflicts regarding family, social, and financial issues. And even though I cant say that it was their sexuality that influenced their support, their gayness is a big part of who they really are. Now, this is funny. My last gay boss was fun and I had a great time working with him. In fact, I preferred working with him more than working with the high-strung women. Above all, I liked when he confessed secrets, his needs and wants, because thru that I was in the loop of what was happening underground: in his juicy personal life, the juicy down low/gay world and the juicy things that go on at work that people dont talk about. And yes our work was great. DH Feb 25, 2007 10:44:00 AM Now I know. I'm a straight man trapped in the body of a straight boss who wants to be the best gay boss he can be. nicksta Feb 25, 2007 9:49:04 PM I think the article is true and false, I actually had 2 gay bosses before me and one was pretty cool and had a great personality. But, did not know how to manage a team (favortism, coming in late everyday, etc.) When he left my other gay boss was just mean. He had no communication skills and was kind of a snob( although he had no reason to be.) Since I am gay and I got the job they both had, I learned from their mistakes and made my own way. I do agree that as a boss I am bit more empathetic and kind of have that sixth sense towards knowing how my staff feels.But overall I just think it comes down to the person and what their work style is like. rugger90046 Feb 26, 2007 9:31:54 AM Why Gay Men Make Better Bosses? Give me a break. Kirk Snyder has done no real scientific evidence for this claim whatsoever and it's sad that he's going around manipulating the old stereotypes that say a man is reason and woman emotion to come out at the other end with gays are thus a perfect balance who are superior in the workplace. It's absurd. If so, why just the workplace huh? Why not THE WORLD???!!! This is a perfect example of the extent to which our society is willing to accept idealized and exaggerated constructions of gender...Details must've really needed an article. class09 Feb 26, 2007 1:08:13 PM Interesting that the article quotes only men. I worked for a gay boss who was extremely intelligent with a great sense of humor and was well-loved. However, he was awful when it came to promoting people to higher levels of management and consistenly selected young, good- looking straight boys. He had different standards for the women in the office and was particularly disdainful of Lesbians. That said, I agree with the posters that this article is poorly conceived. Can you imagine someone writing an article in WSJ saying that straight men make the best bosses? gogo5 Feb 27, 2007 8:41:19 AM I doubt if the article was about black men, hispanic men, straight women, lesbians, or any other combination of ethnicity and gender that it would cause such an uproar. I think because it's about gay men that it threatens those who consider their power coming from the status quo--straight white male power--and rail against it. Based on this article, it sounds plausable and my own experience even supports it. Just today I heard about a new report from the Conference Board that job satisfaction is at an all time low because people hate their bosses. Perhaps this article is more on the money than not. slydogg Feb 27, 2007 10:24:13 AM This is a very good article. I do have to say though, that we are all human beings and whether gay or straight, it has nothing to do with what kind of a boss a person turns out be. I have had straigth bosses that were totally great and gay bosses that made me angry all the time and vice versa. How a person turns out e is not solely determined by his or her sexual orientation. Of course there are the typical sterotypes, but that does not mean everysingle one is like that. hotrod79 Feb 27, 2007 6:41:17 PM Being a good boss depends mainly on the individual. Gay men may be a little more understanding about problems than striaght. But I have heard about good and bad bosses that include gay, lesbian, straight men and women. So that is why I believe that being a good bossit mainly depends on the integrity and experience of the individual. chefjonms Feb 28, 2007 3:27:09 PM I'm an Area Manager (yes, retail) and am gay. I've been told time and time again that I make my employees jobs more fun because I'm gay. I've recently started looking for other employment and all of my employees have pretty much begged me not to leave and, if I did, they may go as well. I think gay guys are easier to work for - we're more understanding and we most of actually do care about our employees. Women - straight and lesbian - are by far the worst bosses! There's too much of a power struggle with them. bosgymcat Mar 2, 2007 9:55:13 AM It's called Emotional Intelligence. It really works when striving for sustained results. ProfessionalMale Mar 6, 2007 8:04:55 AM I enjoyed reading the comments almost as much as the article. I am a "gay boss." I appreciate that the article brings to light a fact that being "gay" in or out (no pun intended) of the work place is not a weakness or something to fear. I know for a fact a lot of straight women and men in my work place would agree with much, if not all of the article...especially the part about the "fierce holiday parties!" puktor Mar 13, 2007 4:46:33 PM "In fact, during Snyder's five-year study of American executives, he stumbled on some startling findings: Gay male bosses produce 35 to 60 percent higher levels of employee engagement, satisfaction, and morale than straight bosses" sounds pretty scientific to me! the point of this article is not to say ALL gay bosses are better than ALL straight bosses, just that they TEND to be better, based on STATISTICS that were borne out of a STUDY. of course, there will always be exceptions to every "rule" (like... not all smokers get lung cancer but they have a much greater probability than non-smokers.). statistics will never tell you the absolute truth about any specific individual or circumstance, they just point you in the direction of the trend. cuddlebuddy666 Mar 16, 2007 11:31:03 AM Well if you've ever taken a statistics class (or just any good science course, for that matter) then you'll know that results from a study can be manipulated as they are dependent on so many variables (efficacy, source pool, etc.). In Snyder's case, his so- called "STUDY" seems doomed for scientific failure from the beginning as his thesis relating to sexuality and success in the workplaces seems inevitably cornered into, as it is referred to in gender studies, "the hall of mirrors". In the hall of mirrors stereotypes (which are nonscientific) are quite unfortunately accepted as fact-- as they are in this "study"--and in the end, prove nothing of scientific signifcance. More specifically it seems that Snyder has unconsciously and so very UNSCIENTIFICALLY recycled the ancient clichés that say there are differences regarding gender and then lended this hackneyed argument towards superiority and inferiority of character, of all places, in the workplace, based on something as complex as a peron's sexuality. In doing this, the line between stereotype and real SCIENTIFIC findings have become blurred and thus the stereotype, not the SCIENTIFIC results, have become part the general truth of his argument (i.e., reinforcing old stereotypes) and arriving at nonsignificant data and a very sweeping generalization. I have to say, it is naive to embrace everything a "scientific study" has claimed to have discovered without questioning how this data was arrived at first. Furthermore, it's pitiful the people at Details don't know this, or if they do, that they don't care, not because I expect great articles from a fashion magazine, but because, as is apparent from this discussion board, the majority of its readers take everything that it publishes at face value. class09 Mar 16, 2007 6:24:58 PM
