Saturday night at our house will hopefully bring our college boy home with his friends. Belfort faces Silva in the UFC. With our clan, that’s a big draw. Our daughter and her fiancé will be home, my in-laws will be up.
Here’s the thing about watching the fight at our house. There’s no talking allowed during the bouts. This is serious business. With a husband who’s taught karate for 30+ years and two kids who rank among his fewer than 25 blackbelts over that many years–we’re talking serious as a heart attack furor over the UFC. When Tallon was little, we played 20 questions with “I’m thinking of a boxer. . . ”
So here’s where it gets interesting. My “girls” asked to come over that night too. I have an incredible group of girlfriends and we love to laugh, share a glass of wine- – -yeah, it gets LOUD. My husband’s definitive answer to this request from them was “HA!HA! No way!” We are compromising with my promise that we’ll stay in the dining room, the exact opposite end of the house. Husbands in the living room with the fight, happy as clams. Wives in the dining room with good conversation, ditto on the happy part.
This all makes me reflect on conversations at Educon, led by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, exploring the lack of gender diversity in the edtech thought leader space. Actually, I’ve been reflecting on that session since I left it on Saturday. I’m thinking a lot about those differences in the genders and what each of us brings to the workplace based on our gender.
I’m wondering about our gender differences and while I realize generalizations are typically unfair no matter what they are. . . I’m going to be paying attention to this issue as I watch people interacting. Yep, going to be analyzing my friends and the people with whom I work.
I’m wondering if there are gender traits that I bring to personal relationships that I leave at the school house door in my role as a superintendent? Is that good or bad? Does it contribute to my leadership or take away from it?