Initially there is a disadvantage generally, but it's not necessarily the disadvantage of being a women. It's more the disadvantage of being a newcomer, of being low man on the totem pole, of not having experienced the social climate of that particular business. Women have to prove their worth more than men and they have to be better at doing what they do than men. I do believe that is true. The need to excel often induces in women a dreaded fear of making mistakes and this, Nierenberg noted, becomes a stumbling block particularly for women who break into upper management, where quick and cool-headed decisions are necessary for survival.
Women are very sensitive to being wrong.
They want to do the best job and they want to see all the alternatives before they commit themselves to a decision, because so much of it rides on their persona. A man who has been in business a long time realizes that the important thing is to make a decision. Women have to learn that they have to toughen their own hide and accept that sometimes their decisions will be wrong. But even as women have to put up with the frustrations of being the new kids on the block, Nierenberg encourages them to bear in mind that being a woman in business has its advantages too. There is an interest and intimacy in terms of attention paid to detail that come more naturally to women than to men.