| Anyone with workplace experience knows men and | | | | biochemically. |
| women process information and communicate | | | | - Men have a bigger amygdala, a structure that |
| differently. Dealing with gender differences can prove | | | | processes emotions. Their brains also more rapidly |
| challenging, especially for managers and leaders. | | | | produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates |
| Regardless of which industry you're in or the position | | | | mood, learning and memory, among other functions. |
| you fill, male and female coworkers can experience a | | | | - Women have larger connectors in the corpus |
| shared event and come away with different | | | | callosum, which links the brain's right and left |
| emotional stories. | | | | hemispheres. |
| We seem to be hardwired this way. Now that | | | | - Men and women respond differently to acute |
| neuroscience is becoming more sophisticated, with | | | | stress. |
| tools like brain imaging, what are we learning about | | | | - Women activate the left hemisphere's amygdala |
| the gender divide? | | | | and remember emotional details. |
| Here are the key findings: | | | | - Men use the right amygdala and more easily identify |
| 1. Emotions are useful. They make the brain pay | | | | the gist of a situation. |
| attention. | | | | What do these disparities mean in the workplace? |
| 2. Men and women process certain emotions | | | | How do they manifest in male/female |
| differently. | | | | communications? |
| 3. These distinctions are a product of complex | | | | How the brain processes stress explains some of |
| interactions between nature and nurture. | | | | these discrepancies. As noted earlier, the amygdala |
| Picture this: Several managers exit a stressful | | | | governs many emotional responses, as well as our |
| meeting, where the discussion was lively and | | | | ability to remember them. After experiencing a |
| occasionally heated. | | | | traumatic event, the female amygdala communicates |
| A female manager jokingly asks her friend if all men | | | | with the left brain hemisphere. The opposite occurs in |
| are missing a gene for sensitivity. A male colleague | | | | men: Their amygdala communicates with the right |
| overhears her remark and doesn't understand her | | | | hemisphere. |
| reaction. | | | | As a result, women remember the emotional details |
| As he reaches his office, he quietly shares a | | | | of an event, while men recall the ultimate outcome. |
| comment with a buddy about female emotional | | | | Furthermore, women tend to use both hemispheres |
| reactivity and then changes the subject to | | | | when speaking and processing verbal information, |
| competitive bottom-line results. | | | | while men primarily use one. |
| Both are intelligent managers on their way up. But if | | | | "She's So Emotional..." |
| you listen closely to their accounts of the meeting, | | | | The next time you hear men make the argument |
| you would think they had attended separate events. | | | | that women are more emotional, consider the |
| Brain Differences | | | | following: Women have access to more emotional |
| We can look to biology and the brain for | | | | data. Their brains are built that way, allowing them to |
| explanations. In Brain Rules (Pear Press, 2008), | | | | detect more emotional nuances. |
| molecular biologist John Medina cites these gender | | | | But too much emotional information can interfere |
| variations: | | | | with rapid decision-making. Men can more quickly |
| - Males have only one X chromosome, while females | | | | pinpoint the overall situation. |
| have two. As it happens, the X chromosome is a | | | | Neither gender is right or wrong, nor better or worse. |
| cognitive "hot spot," carrying a large percentage of | | | | If we recognize the basic brain distinctions in males |
| genes involved in brain development. The extra X in | | | | and females, we can be more tolerant and forgiving |
| females acts as a backup, in case of need. | | | | of each other's "shortcomings. |
| - Men's and women's brains differ structurally and | | | | |