Win Conflicts, Secure your Power Position & Status. Simone Janson

this: "Then bad women would come, oh dear, oh dear." And that, although the quota only applies to the same qualification.

      But the game works, high-ranking women even express themselves publicly: "No, we don't want the quota." Instead of saying, "Nice try, I know what I'm doing anyway."

      The game has worked well so far

      For the men, the game has worked well so far. Even though it has been the subject of intense debate lately, there is no law that would dictate quotas for companies.

      It is interesting that women are so dependent on the critical eye and constantly wait for confirmation, instead of giving it to themselves first and to insist that by good self-marketing their counterpart sooner or later share this impression.

      The clearer the attitude, the easier a high status

      And, don't worry, cleverly expanding your own spectrum of behavior does not mean “masculinizing”. It is important to always reflect on your own role and to analyze the playing field as a system. Tom Schmitt and Michael Esser, authors of the book Status Games, know: "The clearer the inner attitude, the easier it is to achieve a high status."

      Male executives are more likely to be at the top, organize and control the work of their employees and arrange. Women, on the other hand, tend to organize their work as a circle, as well as with their employees, to implement them and usually maintain a team-oriented communication style.

      Female communication style: Good for the company, but bad for the career

      According to their holistic approach, women favor joint project discussions and attach great importance to the dialogue with their employees. The communication can flow directly between the individual task areas and is not limited to arrangements from above.

      Such a female communication style has many advantages for the company - but has so far only been recognized in very few cases when advancing. Above all, women fail because of a lack of “promotion efficiency”, says Bonn management trainer Monika Henn.

      Lack of ascent efficiency

      She found in an empirical study that male executives differ from their employees in assertiveness and resilience, while female executives do so in flexibility and high team orientation.

      These features are helpful for a leadership role. However, whether in self-marketing, networking, strategic and political considerations or power struggles, women are more backward than men.

      Male competition orientation

      This hinders the direct way upwards. Competition-oriented behavior is already familiar to men from their games in childhood. They are, from a small point of view, practiced to establish their rankings and to present victory and independence.

      Through their communicative behavior, men in the different groups, in which their professional life takes place, constantly establish the social hierarchy in the power system. It is clarified who is the stag, who is the second, third, etc. For most men, though an unconscious, yet familiar process.

      The power code is simply not familiar to them

      Women, on the other hand, are often alien to this mechanism. As sensitive as they are to interpersonal behavior as a rule, it does not know what is going on at this level. The reason is that the code is simply unfamiliar to them.

      In order to recognize hierarchical structures, field observation helps according to the motto: “respect but not fear of top dogs”.

      Get more respect: negotiate status!

      // By Natalie Schnack

      "I finally want to be taken seriously!" Many people say to themselves who want to clearly and clearly represent their interests in their professional and private lives. But how do you do that without becoming a ruthless asshole?

      Elbow or not?

      People who can not or do not want to use their elbows are usually at a disadvantage. Because often they feel that they have to be used to taking seriously, ruthless or hard-hitting behavior and thick coat.

      The popular belief that one must prevail against others in order to achieve one's own goals has become deeply rooted in the minds.

      Winner and loser

      When it comes to enforcing, however, it is about winning out of a debate or a conversation. And where a winner is, there are always losers. But that is not for everyone. And it goes differently!

      To meet the other person at eye level, to bring him on board, even if he disagrees, fits much more into today's times and is much more promising. The laws of this type of communication are excellent - and very simple! - clarify with the status concept.

      Status concept

      The status concept comes from the improvisational theater. Keith Jonstone, the founder of the modern improvisational theater, has discovered him in his work with actors. It states that drama and humor arise from situations in which individual players deliberately lower or increase their own social status.

      In the improvisation theater, a distinction is made between the high status and the deep state. This is to make it clear on the stage who dominates the scene and determines the situation and who submits. But status plays a role not just on the stage, but determines our whole life.

      We negotiate status - always!

      Each of us has felt small and unimportant, while the conversation partner seemed to us to be big and important. Or the other way around. This is completely normal. In communication, it is always a question of who leads, who follows, who dominates, who submits.

      In every encounter, in any conversation, in any situation where at least two people are involved, status is negotiated, usually without realizing it. Think of it as an unconscious adjustment and positioning of the persons to each other.

      It always depends on one's own

      In everything we express, in the way of speaking and in the body language, we supply not only the content but also our current status relationship with our opposite: Who leads and who follows.

      From a woodcut perspective, it works like this: if you feel “small”, you are in a so-called low status; if you are confident and feel superior to your counterpart, you are in high status.

      It does not depend on the rank order?

      Status, as it is to be understood here, has nothing to do with hierarchy, titles or possessions. But only with your own personality and the resulting behavior. So it works in all areas of society according to the same rules.

      Of course you can not completely decouple it from the social hierarchy. But that is not crucial here. Your own status depends considerably on how you see yourself. And in comparison to other people. I have only modified and developed this principle on our self-management and communication behavior.

      Swiftness First Aid: Your mental protective shield against attacks

      // By Peter Kensok, Petra Schächtele-Philipp

      If ignoring does not help, you should be aware of what exactly bothers you about the situation - and do something about it.

      From positive thinking to affirmation

      Talk to yourself well.