Masculine Energy in Finance

What would masculine energy in finance look like? Well, unfortunately, for me, aggressiveness in finance does not bode well.

When we talk about masculine aggressiveness, I get a negative connotation. So, bringing that negative connotation into finance is a scary thought.

The following are images or thoughts that come to mind when I hear the term “masculine aggression” which Zuckerberg is equating energy to.

Ukraine war symbolic of masculine aggression

This war was precipitated by Russia seemingly without provocation. I mean, I don’t know what prompted Putin’s attack other than the false story of Nazi over running Ukraine and not allowing regular Ukrainians their freedoms.

This was the masculine energy of a man pumping his chest like a Tarzan, thinking he would defeat the Ukrainians in one week. Here we are, what, 3 years later, with the war still ongoing and the North Koreans in the fray.

Gaza war is another symbol

First, the Hamas initiated the war in a very barbaric way with the intent to poke the Israelis into an enraged reaction. Well, the Hamas succeeded there. But they also brought on the destruction of nearly the entire Gaza.

That masculine energy (or aggression) was short circuited (in my eyes) by hiding behind the civilians. They used civilians are shields during the “battle” with the Israelis.

I don’t know if there are any buildings still standing.

The other sad thing is that the Israelis have lost their standing in the world with their own brand of aggression. The far right in Israel is not helping matters.

The masculine energy led to destruction of a tiny country and the loss of reputation throughout the world.

Al Dunlap as a brand of business masculine energy in finance

Back in the late 1990’s (I think), the business media celebrated Al Dunlap’s brand of aggression: he would scream and yell at his employees. If I remember correctly, one magazine had him on the cover and called him “The Meanest SOB”. He gloried in it.

His methodology was to quickly fire employees upon being hired into troubled companies. Shareholders just thrilled at the firings and thus stock prices would rise.

But his detractors said he was a one trick pony and really did not know how to build companies; just do slashing. Furthermore, his layoffs cut really deep into the muscle, way beyond the fat, with the result that when he left, the companies would have trouble continuing the so-called recovery.

Al Dunlap set out to show that he could build companies during Sunbeam. Shareholders cheered at the prospect of more riches.

Until he couldn’t. He couldn’t increase the sales necessary to increase the profits. He was later found to use deception in his sales practices which led to false accounting entries.

His aggression hid his vulnerabilities in running companies. He really did not have the skills to motivate employees to do the magic.

Enron, the classic example of male chest pumping

I think most of us know that story. They bragged. They chest pumped. But they also lied about the health of the company.

They falsified their projections.

They created fake trading rooms.

They did improper accounting.

I do not remember exactly what prompted its ultimate downfall other than there were a lot of questions about its accounting and reporting.

The biggest chest pumper was Skilling, and he was pretty harsh against those who questioned how the company could be making money.

All that chest pumping hid a lot of fraud underneath.

My own experience with misplaced masculine energy in finance

My experience with male aggression was during the same period as the Enron scandal. The style of masculine energy was a little more subtle, but still was not nice.

For instance, upon acquisition of our company by a European company, the new CFO immediately instituted an order to stop paying our vendors for at least 3 months. The frontline was never notified about that new order.

Then the pressures to bill our client corporate overhead forbidden by our contract came. I fought hard to stay ethical and do the right thing.

The pressure to change our forecast was also part of the regime. Once, corporate said, “This is your forecast” and I replied, “That’s not going to happen.” They didn’t understand the contract limitations imposed upon us.

The purchasing freeze was especially severe. We were a company that provided help desk support and network monitoring, both of which necessitated capital expenditures to maintain the equipment.

Except, during the last year that I was there, I saw no purchase orders going out for critical capital expenditures. I even investigated the accounting, looking for capital expenditures account. I traced the spending history and found that the spending went down to zero during my last year at the company.

Probably about 8 or 9 months after I left the company, I received news that the company lost its two largest US customers, and the European corporate office was looking to pull out of the US market. Yes, that company crashed.

That masculine energy in finance was deleterious.

My exhortation

I can list out more bad examples of masculine energy in finance which had such outsized bad impact on people. We don’t need such terrible results in our economy.

Please don’t bring back such bad influence into business.

Certain levels of aggression are okay and even necessary, but we do not need the kind of maleficent aggression displayed during the 90s and early 2000s, even the kind that led to the Great Recession of 2008.

We should stick to hewing to the ethical path as much as possible. Lose your integrity, you lose the company. That is pretty much what I have seen during the course of my working years so far.

So, no, we don’t need more masculine aggression in business and certainly not in finance.