An Open Letter to Managers of Women
&quot;Maybe you think she has to wait her turn, or brush up on her soft skills and work better with others, or that she simply needs more experience&quot;<p>This happens to EVERYONE, not just women.  I worked at many companies  in my career doing the work of my superiors and kissing their ass, while getting paid at a lower pay-grade and not getting promoted.  This is how the game is played.  If you want it changed, start your own company and change it for everyone, not just women.<p>&quot;Despite this woman’s outstanding contributions, you haven’t promoted her or given her a raise. It’s not fair and you know it.&quot;<p>I don&#x27;t really see any actual statistical evidence that shows this happening at a greater level (or an alarming level) to women.<p>&quot;You’ve talked a big talk about mentoring and development opportunities, but when push comes to shove, you give her the less glamorous work, the “maybe next time” speech, the completed plan decided in a separate meeting without her, because it was just easier and perhaps you think she won’t make as much of a fuss about it.&quot;<p>Did she actually deserve a raise?  Put her time in?  Have the experience?  Lately, it seems many people attribute the -isms when they don&#x27;t get their way and want power and control over another.<p>&quot;She’s no fool. She’s taking classes outside of work, maybe with company support, but often paid out of her own pocket. She’s got side projects where she’s developing new skills and learning how to lead, because outside the company walls there’s no one who can hold her back. She’s got a network and she knows what her friends at other companies make and she has thought about what she might do if her paycheck were 20%, 30%, or 50% bigger.&quot;<p>There are plenty of bad companies that don&#x27;t recognize good talent.  This isn&#x27;t related to sexism.  Finding a better job might be your best option.<p>&quot;And pay her what she’s worth, with a title to match. After all, she’s grown more in the last six months than some of your team have grown in the last six years.&quot;<p>This isn&#x27;t how it works.  Regardless of the person, you need to put your time in before getting promoted.  You can learn lots, but there are many things you just need to experience...and this takes time.<p>&quot;Fail to do these things and she will leave, probably after a big project wraps up because even in the end, she’s still responsible&quot;<p>So, because she didn&#x27;t get a major raise after completing a project after 6 months, she&#x27;s going to leave?  I&#x27;ve worked and managed at many, many places (and now own my own business) and I don&#x27;t think I would want to hire anyone with this entitlement attitude.<p>&quot;This article is inspired by the struggles I have heard from many talented, ambitious women who do amazing work that is as good and often better than the men around them&quot;<p>OFTEN better than the men around them?  Can we please not encourage blatant sexism in an article that is supposed to be against sexism?  So..many...logical..fallacies.<p>&quot;These issues are often worse for women of color.&quot;<p>Proof?  I also wish we had more statistics and facts and less emotion and hearsay.  Come on HN!, we are all about intellectualism...and this article is the antithesis of that!!<p>&quot;It can be downplaying of the ideas and contributions of women, comments like “she can be abrasive”&quot;<p>Some people are &#x27;abrasive&#x27; and need to change their attitude at work.  A friend of a friend of mine was called &#x27;abrasive&#x27;.  She just got out of college and interviewed at a place and told the interviewer that the job was beneath her and she knew more than them.  She just graduated from college and had only intern experience.  It was well deserved.<p>&quot;Well-intentioned men and women may still unintentionally reinforce patriarchal patterns and devalue women.&quot;<p>I wish you would have mentioned &#x27;patriarchal&#x27; at the beginning of the article, so I wouldn&#x27;t have to waste my time.  But alas, I can&#x27;t get that time back.<p>Corporate life is tough and not always fair, but it has nothing to do with sexism on a systemic level.  All of these complaints have been happening to men for many years.  It sounds like now that women are becoming more of a part of corporate life, they are finding out how shitty and soul-sucking it can be.<p>This is actually why I started my own company.<p>Edit: I also checked out some of the links at the bottom of the article (which I won&#x27;t name here).  It&#x27;s one of the most  excluding jobs sites I have ever seen.<p>I hope one day we can have inclusivity for all, instead of this backward 1950s thinking where one group is accepted and the rest are turned away.