Why companies need female managers

By Tim Weber Business editor, BBC News website, in Davos

When Helen Fisher speaks, the politically correct members of her audience are likely to flinch.

Declaring that she's "definitely not a feminist," the American anthropologist from Rutgers University dissects the
differences between men and women. Men are more analytical; women are better long-term planners. Each gender has a
different way of falling in love.And the invention of the plough did more to set back gender equality than anything else
since.

What Ms Fisher says is not psychobabble. She bases her findings on archaeological evidence, MRI brain scans, genetics and
large-scale surveys of how men and women behave. And understanding that male and female brains develop and behave
differently is important not just if you are in the dating game. It also helps us to hire the right people, improve teamwork
and can - to quote part of the title of her talk at the World Economic Forum in Davos - grow a company's bottomline.

Once upon a time

Double-income families are not an invention of modern times. "In prehistoric times, double-income families were the norm,
and women provided 60-80% of the evening meal," says Ms Fisher. But following the invention of the plough and with the
resulting need for hard manual labour, the power balance shifted. Only since World War I are women re-entering the
workforce and regaining their status in society. But there are much more fundamental differences between men and
women, says Ms Fisher, that have been shaped over millennia of evolution.

For starters, men and women are thinking differently. Brain scans prove it, as does plenty of other research. On average,
women gather more data, consider the context, are intuitive, have a sympathising mind and think more long-term. Ms
Fisher calls it "web thinking". Men, on the other hand, are more focused, think linear, focus on rules and the short-term -
"step thinking".

The culprit

Blame testosterone for the difference. From the moment the embryo's brain develops in the mother's womb, high
testosterone levels will make you focus on details in later life.

Now lift your hand and look at your palm. Is the ring finger longer than your index finger? Then you were the recipient of
high levels of testosterone. Chances are that you are an analytical thinker (or very musical), regardless of gender, while a
shorter ring finger suggests you have a more sympathising mind. And men tend to grow up on lots of testosterone.

You want proof? Research shows that film scripts written by women are more complex and have more ambiguous endings
than those written by men. Male doctors focus on the illness and its treatment, while female doctors take a more holistic
approach.

The long-term thinking of women makes them better investors.It's even true in the bedroom, says Ms Fisher. Men tend to
focus more on what they are doing, while women are easily distracted, she says to slightly embarrassed laughter from her
audience.

And when men get older and their testosterone levels sink, their brain starts to work differently - they become more
sympathetic to the plight of others. But why the difference? Well, over the ages men tended to be the hunters and needed
to focus. Women, in contrast, had much more diverse tasks, like bringing up children (which Ms Fisher also believes may be
the reason why women are better talkers: language is the key tool to control children).

The business case

So what does all this mean for business leaders? Combine the long-term thinking of women with the short-term focus of
men. And bear in mind that different thinking also results in very different behaviour. Men think more in terms of status
and rank. Women prefer flat hierarchies. Men can have tunnel vision, women may fail to get to the point. Women find it
difficult to counter aggression. When men push back, it earns them the respect of other men. When women apologise, they
are not really sorry. For men it's a serious affair, a perceived weakening of their status.

Ms Fisher's list goes on and on, but her message is clear. Managers, says Ms Fisher, have to realise that men and women act
differently, and that they complement each other. Having only men or women on your team would be like hopping on one
foot instead of walking.As the status of women is on the rise again, says Ms Fisher, we "move forward to a lifestyle we had
a million years ago".
1_ Vocabulary focus: find the English words in the article

A_ Part 1 (When Helen Fisher speaks)

1_ la charrue: the plough 5_ embaucher : to hire

2_ retarder: to set back (a set back = un obstacle) 6_ résultats financiers

3_ à grande echelle : large-scale bottomline

4_ rencontres amoureuses : dating game

B_ Part 2 (Once upon a time)

7_ l’équilibre du pouvoir : the power balance 9_ compatissant :

8_ pour commencer : For starters sympathisingminds

C_ Part 3 (the culprit) :

10_ le ventre : womb

11_ l’annulaire : ring finger 14_ le sort : the plight

12_ le bénéficiaire : recipient 15_élever : bringing up

13_ approche globale : holistic approach

D_ Part 4 (the business case)

16_ plat: flat 17_ avoir des œillères : to have tunnel vision

18_ aller à l’essentiel : to get to the point 19_

repousser, répliquer : to pushback

20_ un affaiblissement : a weakening 21_ faire un bond : to hop

2_ Getting the gist

Based on the information you gathered from the text, decide who is better at / likely to… Don’t forget to justify all of your
answers.

Who is better at…?

_ communication woman

_ investing woman

_ analysing man

_ intuition woman

_ compassion woman

_ reaching goals

Who is more likely to… ?

_focus on detail man

_ be hypocritical man

_ be interested in promotion
_ appreciate hierarchical structures in companies man