The careers for most women follow an expected trajectory: Webegin in our 20s, surrounded by young colleagues of both sexes;move into our 30s, when some of us leave entirely or shift toreduced hours to raise families; then throttle on through our 40s,the decade of major career advancement. As the ranks of womenprofessionals thin, those of us who remain and move upward mayface unexpectedchallenges related to the loss of our female coworkers. Just aswe move into responsible roles as corporate and institutionalleaders, ready to lead and guide both men and women embarking ontheir own ascent, we suddenly see that there are very few womenprofessionals to manage. Because many have left along the way, wehave pushed ahead with our heads down and have little experiencemanaging female colleagues.

For women who have persevered through the corporate competitionand finally attained a level of authority over a group ofemployees, we need to remember a few essentials. Not only is itcritical to be genuine and play to our strengths, but we also mustunderstand how societal expectations can sometimes play a role inthe way our messages, as managers, are received.

Men and women who rise to managerial positions face many similarchallenges, but there are unique complexities in thefemale-to-female workplace dynamic.

Studies dating back nearly 20 years examine both thediffering communications styles and skills of female and malemanagers, and how this impacts their employees' job satisfaction.Data suggest that female employees reject women bosses who behavein a “masculine” or traditionally managerial way. Women employees,when surveyed about qualities they desire in their female bosses,react positively to empathy, support, sensitivity, andself-disclosure, which could well be characterized as historicfemale stereotypes. The attributes generally associated with maleleaders — being persuasive, analytical, and action-oriented — arenot influential in how women perceive their female superiors.

We might anticipate these stereotypes to change as more womenenter organizations at a professional level, but biases change veryslowly. More recentstudies have made similar observations that “some skillsand behaviors, may be considered essential for female managers butnot for male managers.” Women both expect more qualities, typicallylabeled “feminine,” from their female superiors and give them lowerratings if found lacking. Womendo not hold their male bosses to these same standards whenevaluating them.

The catch-22 is that to advance in male-dominantorganizations, womenoften must develop the more traditionally maletraits. They generally attain their position through aheavy dose of the traditional male qualities we associate withsuccess — determination, decisiveness, tireless work ethic, andeffective use of authority. They repress their feminine qualities,only to find that the women whom they lead demand those morecompassionate skills. Readthe complete Harvard Business Review blog.