From Uber to Nike to CBS, recent exposés have revealed seemingly dysfunctional workplaces rife with misconduct, bullying, and sexual harassment. For example, Susan Fowler’s 2017 blog about Uber detailed not only her recollections of being repeatedly harassed, but what she described as a “game-of-thrones” environment, in which managers sought to one-up and sabotage colleagues to get ahead. A New York Times investigation described Uber as a “Hobbesian environment…in which workers are pitted against one another and where a blind eye is turned to infractions from top performers.”
How Masculinity Contests Undermine Organizations, and What to Do About It
From Uber to Nike to CBS, recent exposés have revealed seemingly dysfunctional workplaces rife with misconduct, bullying, and sexual harassment. Why do companies get caught up in illegal behavior, harassment, and toxic leadership? Researchers identify an underlying cause: a Masculinity Contest Culture. This kind of culture endorses winner-take-all competition, where winners demonstrate masculine traits such as emotional toughness, physical stamina, and ruthlessness. Surveys of thousands of workers in the U.S. and Canada, from different organizations, revealed four masculine norms that together define masculinity contest culture are are highly correlated with organizational dysfunction: 1) show no weakness, 2) strength and stamina, 3) put work first, and 4) dog eat dog. But these norms lead people to focus on burnishing their personal image and status at the expense of others, even their organizations. Leaders need to perform deeper, more committed work to examine their cultures, and take action where it’s needed.