Refashioning a Passionate Manager: Gender at Work

Abstract

Despite what has been historically recognized as the masculinity of the credentials required for successful business life, contemporary managers now face new challenges. They are required to be caring and relationshiporiented. The traditional masculine/feminine hierarchy of logic/emotion is being reshaped by the imperative to be 'passionate' in the workplace. This article argues that a new gendered truth plays an important part in the 'regime of truth' (Foucault, 1980, p. 131) that shapes current organizational life. This truth, championed by feminists to distinguish women's contribution to social life, forms part of our understanding of what it means to be a successful manager. To achieve success in the current environment managers must be, not just rational, but passionate about their work. The article provides readings of a range of texts to establish the centrality of gender and its relationship to contemporary postmodern discourses about change and difference in management practice. The article articulates both some of the new freedoms and constraints for managers. It also elaborates some of the mechanisms whereby this gendered truth reconfirms the traditional masculine/feminine hierarchy.

Gendered Managerial Discourses in Sport Organizations: Multiplicity and Complexity

“…Instead they explicitly stress their use of what Collinson and Hearn (1996) describe as a paternal discourse although their use of it often has implicit authoritarian overtones as the previous section has shown. Whereas management used to be primarily characterized by autonomy and authoritarianism, it now obviously requires instrumental connectedness as well (Hatcher 2003).…”

Introducing the Feminist Management Discourse in Organizations

“…(Note 3) Team management is here outlined as different from earlier management styles (Kanter, 1989;Clegg, 1995;Fondas, 1997;Hatcher, 2003). Planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting are cited as outmoded management skills in textbooks.…”

“…Here one studies how management and gender are discussed in society-at-large, such as in research and popular culture (literature, film, advertisement etc.). Several studies of management literature such as Kanter (1977), Fondas (1997), Cunha and Cunha (2002) and Hatcher (2003) fall into this category. Further, Calás and Smircich (1993) have studied how the discourses about globalization and "feminine" leadership get entangled.…”

“…According to Clegg (1995), a feminine ethos is here lurking just beneath the surface. This immanent femininity has not been acknowledged in management literature (Fondas, 1997;Hatcher, 2003). According to Metcalfe and Altman (2001), one problem not yet thoroughly studied is what happens when teamwork and team management are introduced in organizational life.…”

Gendered Identities in Self-Descriptions of Electoral Candidates in a French National Sport Federation

“…Moreover, the candidates in Class 2 emphasized passion for their sport. Hatcher (2003) argued that passion has now become a necessary quality that enterprising managers must display. This passion must not be disordered, however, but be controlled.…”