In short
Women’s “double bind” at work—being expected to hold others accountable while also being labeled “bossy” or “controlling” for doing so.
Guest backgrounds
No guest names or bios appear in the provided transcript.
Key claims
The episode argues women face different standards than male colleagues; framing matters. It recommends shifting how requests/reminders are worded—using group/collective goals and depersonalizing directives rather than sounding like personal authority.
Notable examples
Contrasting “I’d like you to get X done by Friday” versus “We have to turn this project in on Friday, so please update me on your progress,” emphasizing the latter’s collective-goal framing.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOUnderstanding the Double Bind for Women
0:04 to 0:27
Learn about the challenges women face in leadership roles and how to navigate them.
“It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks.”
Understanding the Double Bind for Women
0:56 to 1:56
Learn about the challenges women face in leadership roles and how to navigate them.
“team members, stakeholders, colleagues, but I'm also easily seen as bossy and controlling.”
Transcript
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1:20Are you saying, I'd like you to get X done by Friday. Do that for me, okay? Or are you saying, we have to turn this project in on Friday, so please update me on your progress? You're depersonalizing it, and you're putting it into the frame of the group's goals rather than your own goals. I'm not telling you to do this because I think you have to listen to me, which, by the way, you do. But I'm doing I'm telling you to do this because we have this collective thing that we're trying to achieve.
From the publisher
How Women Can Deal with a 'Double Bind' Problem
9 Oct 2024
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Women often face a double bind at work: Be the boss but don’t be bossy. If you’re facing this situation, Women at Work co-hosts Amy Gallo and Amy Bernstein have some advice for you.
For more tips and guidance from Amy and Amy, check out HBR’s Women at Work podcast. Season 10 starts October 21. In the meantime, the show’s feed has six years’ worth of episodes to scroll through, on all sorts of skills and topics.
Listen here: https://s.hbr.org/47Zbewd
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