workplace dynamics quotes

Being beautiful is not so fun when you’re in a business with all men.

Even before I went to the UN, I often would want to say something in a meeting – only woman at the table – and I’d think, ‚OK well, I don’t think I’ll say that. It may sound stupid.‘ And then some man says it, and everybody thinks it’s completely brilliant, and you are so mad at yourself for not saying something.

It’s pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious.

There’s a personality trait known as agreeableness. Agreeable people are compassionate and polite. And agreeable people get paid less than disagreeable people for the same job. Women are more agreeable than men.

Remember: your bosses prefer to keep you in dependent positions. It is in their interest that you do not become self-reliant, and so they will tend to hoard information. You must secretly work against this and seize this information for yourself.

I started really noticing, more and more, how men will plagiarize and take credit for women’s work… I’ve noticed that it just happens a lot.

Early on, when I was quite young and going from job to job, I was foolish enough to sometimes speak to my fellow workers: ‚Hey, the boss can come in here at any moment and lay all of us off, just like that, don’t you realize that?‘ They would just look at me. I was posing something that they didn’t want to enter their minds.

If you are a parent, you have probably already realized that your children are always watching what you do. And just as children watch their parents and emulate their behavior, so do employees who are watching their bosses.

It’s very important to like the people you work with. Otherwise, your job is going to be quite miserable.

The problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for thinking. You’re encouraged to behave like a little gear in a complex machine. Frankly, it allows you to keep people who aren’t that smart, who aren’t that creative.

Female psychotic bosses can be particularly devilish. They will tend to mix in a lot of passive aggression, making you feel guilty for all kinds of things.

Sucking up to the biggies won’t get us anywhere.