How Women Can Escape the Likability Trap

The term “likability” is often heard on the campaign trail surrounding women and their electability. And time and time again, gender studies reveal women who show an ounce of authority risk being disliked. A columnist for The New York Times — who has interviewed roughly 200 women on gender and the workplace — offers several tips to help women avoid the “likability trap.” Here is a sampling:

  • Test the waters by “behaving as assertively as comes naturally.”
  • Maintain a good balance of authority and warmth.
  • Embrace the idea of what anthropologists call “gender display.”

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