Think Like a Man
By
Julie D Cole

‘ If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, it is little wonder that the two genders have a hard time understanding what the other thinks. Why not let the man in your life try life in your shoes?’
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was reading an article and it made me think a lot. No man in my life only one who keeps trying but sometimes he irritates me with his attitude to women. I can’t help it but he joined our Company and is being fast-tracked to the top having started 2 grades below me. He is now level after only 6 months.

I looked at the list of things to consider. “The road goes both ways, and maybe first try to understand a little more about how men think. Once you understand more about how to think like a man, your chances of success will improve and communication and interaction with the men in your life will likely improve. Then you can take over his lifestyle and he can learn to walk in your shoes and be satisfied. “

Yes it would do him good to walk in my shoes for a while. It might slow him down. Our customers might not be so responsive to him in heels. I don’t think that was quite what the article meant but it made me smile. He’d look pretty good and he has the legs for it. I should persuade him to shave them and tell him I’d fancy him more if he wore panties instead of jockey shorts.

Ha Ha, now back to reality. Carl was now progressing faster than me at work and was destined to take over the Department and next stop would be taking charge of the whole of our Operations in the South of England. I had been ear-marked for these positions until the new Area Director was appointed and clearly he didn’t like women and I guess a few things went against his basic principles. I was more qualified, smart, intelligent with high grades and a degree. I was not at the back of the queue for my figure or indeed for my looks. I was quite statuesque compared to lots of my female colleagues.

Unfortunately being well endowed, like my mother, makes it difficult for clients to take me seriously, especially male ones and mature ones at that. Even female clients and colleagues seem to be jealous and usually turn and listen to Carl even when I was speaking or giving a presentation. Our Director usually asks him to sum up at the end of our team meetings rather than me or one of the Senior Partners. In recent meetings I got the coffees and he got the credit.

That was it. I needed to act. I picked up my tablet and started to write notes. I needed a foolproof plan so I made a few notes setting my targets based upon the advice in the article. First of all I decided I might need to change him to give myself a better chance of success. To start with I decided that I’d do whatever I could to influence him to think from the woman’s point of view. In parallel I needed to demonstrate to our boss and Senior Partners that I could think like a man whilst he would be less sure of himself and hopefully soon he would be seen as the one taking the woman’s view on things.

I referred back to the article. Hmmm. It says here that women have a tendency to dance around the topic instead of getting straight to the point and often drag a thought or topic out for an extended length of time. What?

That’s an advantage surely? It’s a bit of a generalization anyway but by comparison to me but thinking about it Carl is more likely to state his thoughts firmly, directly towards the meeting chairman and client and promptly. I’d look around to try to address all the attendees and gauge their reactions looking at faces to ensure everybody felt part of the meeting.

Carl does tend to bounce off my ideas and make out they are his. Men rarely pick up on the fact that there is an underlying concern or matter that a woman usually has on her mind. He is good at listening with one ear, glancing at notes in front of him, or more often my notes and speaking out seconds later. He was a natural for a newsreader if he’d gone into TV but had no views on the topics under discussion. He was still the same some years later. Unlike me he is no good at multi-tasking but picking up on something written and conveying it to an audience is one of his great skills.

In meetings I soon realized that he’d always sit next to me and look at my notes and scribbles. I decided he was taking advantage and leaving me giving the impression I was following his ideas whenever I got chance to speak out. I’d get cut short. He’d step back in having picked up my next point on my list.

I needed to sell myself like he does so decided I should confuse him in future meetings and train myself to behave in a more assertive way. How to demonstrate I could think more like a man and share whatever is on my mind as soon as it is on my mind? That’s the act Carl portrays when he uses my ideas. I need to cover my notes and speak out more. I would stop making notes or better still write in shorthand. I could benefit from the shorthand skills that my mother had taught me even though this is out dated. She had been a dedicated and very successful secretary in the firm and naturally I was considered to be a younger version of mum especially by some of the senior partners who had selected our Director. Some of them knew mum very well.

I decided that I needed to teach Carl to be less impulsive and to encourage him to have his own ideas and think before he speaks. Then the playing field would be level. With no guidance notes on my pad to copy he’d be less inclined to speak out. I doubted this was an easy task with his ambitions but he was aching to get me into bed with him so I had a chance. My plan was to believe he has to be able to think like a woman and be more passive. For promotion and of course to make progress with me. I inferred he might have more chance to get into my underwear if he was a bit less aggressive and gentle. I would offer to help him by softening his features and focusing on his good looks. At some stage I might persuade him to enjoy the experience of womanhood and what it was like to walk in my shoes by changing roles. I might even fancy him, who knows?

Looking at him I saw he wasn’t much different in size to me. If I could coax him to lose a little more weight and let his hair grow I could feminize him. He exercises a lot and plays a lot of squash to keep fit. He is not very muscular for all his hard work except he has a strong butt. He had great hair. Maybe a pony tail would look good on him if he let it grow a little longer. I should show him some options and how good guys look. I would buy some magazines focusing his attention to the youthful unisex look where the men looked cool and sexy and young as he liked to be. He needed to focus more on his clothes instead of boring grey suits and to take care of his appearance and keep up to the latest fashions. Outside work I might get him to wear more colorful outfits and carry a man bag. Even to get him to wear a touch of make-up.

He always looked good with a tan so maybe some time under a sun bed would help change his look and give me chance to persuade him to remove all his body hair. He had long slender legs and liked to wear grumpy old man shorts when playing sport. I’d buy him some skimpy shorts and get him to realize his longer legs and short body were assets.

I could take him with me for a Spa day and let the girls there persuade him to have facial treatments and trim his strong eyebrows since he would surely be putty in their hands. Maybe even a spray tan would be on the cards. I could use the Spa Day idea to start his re-styling and training saying the Spa day was a gift and I could take a friend. I wouldn’t tell him about the manicure and the pedicure until he got there. With luck he’d love all the attention and I could get him away from his mobile phone for a few hours.

Maybe we could follow this up regularly and book a series of treatments. Yes with a girly day every week I could soften his look and change his appearance and style. The changes needed to be subtle. I needed to work on him and spend time with him outside wor but not give myself to him too quickly.

Some changes in the décor of his apartment might be an excuse. His decorator was due to carry out some work soon and I could invite him to have a week away with me and influence him to let me help with ideas for a complete makeover of his apartment. We could chat about it whilst enjoying the Spa Day.

I knew a designer and decorator to help me and so I borrowed his spare keys and visited with them to make a plan. The designer was an old friend from school and she responded well to my ideas. She prepared a quotation around a 3D presentation and I loved it. I agreed that I would pay.

I convinced Carl I would spend more time with him if he let me help him. I gave him one plan but was intent on a more feminine style as agreed with my friend. He thought he had a chance I might agree to move in with him so he accepted some changes with softer colors and fabrics and some changes in the furnishings.

I booked the Spa day and invited him to stay over at my place afterwards and we’d have dinner together. He was so excited I could see his tail starting to wag. I’ll let you know the details later.
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