jen briggs

I used to be a bartender at a country club years ago (shhhh … 20ish years ago). I know what the good ol’ boy club looks like. My reflection wasn’t that it was men intending to be exclusionary, most were just unaware. On some days I was in the beverage cart, other days in the shack, other days in the men’s only bar (ya, you read that right, but not in the “adult” way, just so men could have some space), and most of the time in the clubhouse. I learned from every location of work that a lot of business happens casually over drinks or on the course. I had the good fortune to learn a lot of business through the conversational exposure and was treated well 95% of the time.

Fast forward to my corporate job. We did have two females on the executive team, and when it came to the casual outings, my divisional leader preferred spa days. She didn’t play golf, and it was acceptable for her to go her own route as did our other female leader (Encouraged? I don’t know). The problem? These female leaders were missing out on the crucial business dialog that happens between the guys on the course. Their male counterparts were brainstorming, mind-melding, and debating and the voice of my divisional leader was absent from the convo. I would express my frustration occasionally and be quickly dismissed because “these weren’t decision making meetings.” Yes, that part was true. But, leadership isn’t always about making decisions it is more frequently about powerful contribution to group discourse, influence, and tone. There is also a type of shorthand or code that develops between people who spend frequent time together. This leads to more efficient meetings and quick decisions, but it does not necessarily create more thoughtful dialog and wise judgment.

Forward to now – a more modern, dare I say progressive workplace. Claims are out that this company has a good ol’ boy club. Like my country club experience, the men completely disagree about the club claims and are unaware of the impacts. The single female on the C-suite team is at all meetings. But, the guys are out golfing, drinking beer, and generally commiserating with each other. Employees observe this. They create stories about it. People understand that there is a lot of information and influence exchanged outside of the meetings. She’s missing out on the opportunities to influence the mindset of her peers and contribute alternative ideas. She is inadvertently excluded from the brain trust.

This club issue is not strictly a gender issue. It is a collective wisdom issue. A great friend, Christine Perich, encourages people to check their gender at the door and simply, yet powerfully, be their best self and a strong leader. When we are trying to exhibit a leadership style that conflicts with who we are as people, it is disingenuous and unproductive. When we build a leadership team, it is about merging complimentary styles to get a convergence of fantastic thinking. We can’t do this when the leaders have similar filters, backgrounds, skills, cultural experiences, races, genders, character-traits, and life perspectives. We need people from different aspects of life to bring their wisdom to the business. Certainly, some women exhibit what we have come to traditionally perceive as masculine traits like drive, ambition, and assertiveness. Just like some men exhibit traditionally feminine traits like compassion, patience, collaboration, and vulnerability. I hope someday we drop the gender labels and focus on constructing great teams, but we’re so far from that still. We won’t be there until we stop letting our subconscious bias drive our attitudes and actions. But, the point here is when the dudes do their thing, and the ladies are excluded, consciously or not, the group cannot fully develop. You will have pockets of bonding and pockets of exclusion.

The good ol’ boys club isn’t just about the far extreme of dick jokes and other sophomoric behavior. It’s about a different, yet critically impactful, place where teams coalesce, disagree and have micro-influence that will drive thought leadership in future corporate decision making.

Men – stop the club even if you don’t think you have a club.

Ladies – don’t start a club. I know, I know, we’ve been excluded for years, but that doesn’t mean it’s time for us to start our own club.

Clubs are outdated in the workplace. It’s about great workplaces that are able to harvest the collective organizational wisdom and build value. It is about the power of we. It’s about a time when we will all look back and see diversity and care of employee insights as a mainstream way of working and not a progressive best practice. It’s about a time where we will value people; all people.