Men vs women brain design is really different. It shows in our behaviors.
- Men are more aggressive at negotiations, more likely to fight to prove they are right, they more easily promote themselves.
- Women are more collaborative, more likely to promote others versus themselves, more focusing on getting to the best answer than focused on being right.
I kinda take the men vs women brain as a given that’s part of our world. When I started in the business world I was raised by men. Not a female around to be found. So I just learned that guys are guys. I accepted that. I even adopted some of their behaviors… the ones I could adopt that is. That’s how it was back then.
Decades later, I learned the truth behind the difference between men vs women brain designs.
Men vs Women Brain – viva la Difference!
I’m talking way beyond Mars and Venus kinda diversity.
There’s a reason, too. It’s called survival of the species.
- Every fetus is female until around three months in utero. At three months, a testosterone burst either happens, or it doesn’t. If it happens, the brain of the fetus begins to take on male characteristics. If the testosterone burst doesn’t happen, the fetus continues to develop as a female.
- The male brain shift takes the communications and nurturing centers of the current female brain and substantially reduced them. Those centers of the brain are transformed… into centers that drive aggression and reproduction.
- The female brain continues to develop along its path, with its communication and nurturing centers becoming dominant.
To me, that explains it all. It also explains a balance in nature that I find pretty darned amazing.
- Men are wired to be more aggressive. Which means of course they’d be more aggressive in negotiations, more apt to self–promote. Then there’s the reproductive drive that comes part and parcel with that aggression bent. If a male wants to attract the best mate, he better prove that he is right, that he is successful and that he can win. That’s how cave men wooed their cave women.
- Women are wired to be more nurturing. To be focused on communicating, placating, soothing. Finding the place where everyone can agree, get along and sing kum bay yah. Which is why women are more likely to promote others, to help their teams get recognition. It’s also why we’re more likely to focus on getting everyone in the room to collaborate to find the best answer. We’re wired to communicate, collaborate and just plain cool the chaos. That’s what cave women did for their families and each other.
- The combination of the male and female brain creates the perfect balance of perception, processing and response. It’s a combination that has helped humans survive and thrive for eons.
The Difference Between Men and Women in Business
Our brains don’t suddenly shift when it’s time to go to work. We’re still female and males, approaching a problem or opportunity. The difference between men and women is that women see it, analyze it and respond to it with very different minds. Of course we are not conscious of the differences. We’re talking unconscious brain wiring here. Think instincts. Which means it’s innate and highly unlikely to change quickly or easily. Unless you know how to bypass the instincts, that is. But that’s another topic….
We perceive the market, our customers, that problem or opportunity…. everything in our businesses and lives differently.
Which is why when we partner the male and female brains together, focused on a challenge or opportunity, we get a better result. We get better insights and ideas, we get better focus on development and delivery, we get better more aggression in sales and marketing.
The Bottom Line
We spend a lot of energy trying to make the differences between men and women bad or negative. Like something is missing from one or the other and we need to try to all be the same. Especially in business.
The reality is that nature created a beautiful balance, a work of art and science.
What if we all focused on the power of this balance, instead of finding something wrong about these differences?
The combination of these two powerful brain structures is the foundation of human survival and evolution. For eons and eons.
Think what that same combination will do for our businesses.
Just sayin…..
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Want all the cool details? Check out The Male Brain and The Female Brain.
