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 Leadership and the Sexes featured in Column on Men at Work
LEADERSHIP
AND THE SEXES: USING GENDER SCIENCE TO CREATE SUCCESS IN BUSINESS - Michael
Gurian with Barbara Annis. Jossey-Bass, $27.95 (272p) ISBN
978-0-7879-9703-8. To learn more about the book click
here.
Paternity Leave A Good Motivational Tool
August 23, 2008, by ANDREA KAY
When one of my male executive clients has a baby, he changes.
He
is still the consummate hard-working leader of men and women who
oversees projects spanning continents and generating millions. But it's
as if some lever was pulled inside his brain expanding the tentacles of
his awareness.
It turns out something like that actually does take place.
"A man's biology changes when he has a child," say Michael Gurian and Barbara Annis, authors of "Leadership and the Sexes."
The
part of the brain that handles thinking, judging and executive
decision-making develops more synapses and connections after the baby
is born and the man becomes more wise and focused on good decisions and
paying attention, a recent Princeton University study shows.
When
we see men working even harder after having a baby, we may very well be
seeing a male brain that expands "its territory and scope of success in
order to fulfill a bond with his child" — all through his hard work,
say the authors.
His hormones also change with oxytocin levels,
or bonding chemicals, increasing. That may also explain why many of my
conversations with these men go back and forth between work projects
and what to do about that tugging feeling to be at home. As the authors
say, you're seeing nature at work with the male brain and its
biochemistry making "men hungry to spend more time with family."
It
seems that more men than ever are asking for paternity leave or trying
to find an arrangement that allows for a part-time schedule, job
sharing or working from home more. USA Today cited a 2007 Monster.com
survey saying 71 percent of fathers with a child under age 5 took
paternity leave when it was offered.
But some managers and
businesses have been slow to catch on to the idea. Yes, under the
Family Medial Leave Act, government workers or employees in companies
with at least 50 people are entitled to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid
leave. But some men who asked for leave have been denied it or, if they
got it, demoted or terminated shortly after returning to work.
And they're suing, says Tarun Mehta, a labor and employment attorney with Bryan Cave LLP.
After
FMLA was passed, "the first gender bias lawsuit brought under the act
was by a man denied his FMLA rights to take care of his newborn child,"
Mehta said. His employer allegedly told him "'God made women to have
babies' and that a man was not a primary caregiver so he could not stay
home to be with his newborn unless his wife was 'in a coma or dead,'"
Mehta said.
Many men feel that "by requesting paternity leave,
their managers will put their names on the list to be laid off when the
next layoff does occur." Or they worry that "employers will think men
who request paternity leave are not serious about their careers." Some
men experience discriminatory treatment in the form of teasing, which
not only discourages them requesting time off but serves as a lesson to
other male employees, Mehta said.
The Federal Employees Paid
Parental Leave Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June and
is before the Senate. It would provide federal workers entitled to FMLA
leave with four weeks of paid parental leave.
What about
everyone else? If we are to retain the best workers whose priorities
include quality of life and being a hands-on parent, a serious look at
alternative working optio ns is in order. It's not just a woman's or a
man's issue, it's a business issue.
Andrea Kay is the author of
"Life's a Bitch and Then You Change Careers: 9 Steps to Get Out of Your
Funk and On To Your Future." Send questions to her by mail to 2692
Madison Road, No. 133, Cincinnati, OH 45208 or e-mail to andrea @andreakay.com. Her Web site is Andreakay.com
Michael Gurian and Barbara Annis are the authors of "Leadership
and the Sexes: Using Gender Science to Create Success in Business,"
published by Jossey-Bass/John Wiley, September 2008. For more
information, visit www.genderleadership.com.
This website features the
Leadership and Gender trainings offered by Michael Gurian and his
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