A recent study published on April 8th, 2012, revealed that men and women have different motivations in starting a business. Women are 1.17 times more likely than men to use business as a tool for social change and 1.23 times more likely to use it for environmental change. Hechevarria, Amy Ingram, Rachida Justo, and Siri Terjesen determined this by studying the data on different types of start-up businesses on more than 10,000 individuals. They concluded that while men are more likely to start businesses for money, women are driven by social and environmental change. Is this an example of women taking advantage of their emotions?
According to Dr. Goleman, women have an edge over men when it comes to emotional intelligence, which is critical for a happy and successful life. While the male brain is able to “tune out of the emotions and switch to other brain areas,” a female brain stays in tune with emotions. In the past, and even now, emotions have been regarded as a weakness in the workplace. Ambitious women of all sorts aim to possess more masculine qualities in order to compete with their male coworkers. But Dr. Goleman points out that both brains have advantages and disadvantages. It’s not about who is better at doing business, but about the different ways in which business can be conducted and what men and women can learn from each other. The good news is that companies are starting to recognize the advantages of emotional intelligence when it comes to certain positions like sales, teams, and leadership. Could this be a message to women in business that “Trying to be a man is a waste of a woman?”