[quote=edna_mode]I’m one of those girls who practiced tae kwon do as a kid, and then migrated to aikido in my adulthood. I was one of the few girls who stuck for longer than a few months, and I vividly remember one girl who was using the testosterone imbalance to her advantage, practicing her flirting skills more than her punches. Needless to say, I would pound her whenever we sparred.
It was good preparation for going into male-dominated professions. However, I will also say that the same behavior (extremely decisive attitude, ability to think and articulate clearly and independently) gets interpreted very differently when exhibited by boys vs. girls. I try to steer towards environments where these qualities are appreciated in men and women. But there are still a lot of regressive enclaves (and you have to suss out certain personalities, even in the better places) where the ability to couch these strengths in diplomacy, request language vs. demands, willingness to convince others slowly rather than lay out all the logic and expect others to capitulate their clearly less defensible position…well, let’s just say that learning *persuasion* by means other than strict force or logic is one of the reasons I switched martial arts.[/quote]
Edna: Interesting post and I enjoyed your parsing in terms of using your particular skillset.
My dad, a former Marine DI, used to refer to the “scalpel and the sledgehammer” when I was growing up. I did martial arts (karate, boxing and Kendo), as well as played football and then the Army. What I found when I got to the corporate world was that there are far more tools than just a scalpel or sledgehammer and that diplomacy and building a reasoned case for action went far further and was appreciated far more (than the autocratic “diktat” approach).
The most successful leaders I worked with were true consensus builders, but not afraid to be forceful and decisive when the time came. Those that bullied subordinates and underlings and used fear as motivator (“The beatings will continue until morale improves!”) were generally not rewarded with hard work and loyalty.
I agree with some of what Russell is saying about football, in terms of some of the negative lessons (might makes right and the use of physical intimidation), but I think, in his broad brush approach, he misses the far more important lessons that football (and other sports) imparts: Teamwork, character built through adversity, striving for a common goal and the absolutely repulsive taste of losing. I can remember picking myself up off the turf and wanting nothing more than to quit and go home, but I refused, absolutely refused, to lose. Only one place to learn that most invaluable of all lessons.
