Riding the Roller Coaster

I have found being a strong female in a leadership position, is often like riding a roller coaster ride with its ups and downs. 

The complaints generally titter back and forth between - you're too permissive, need to be more decisive, take charge of the situation - alternating with - you're unapproachable, too rigid in your stance, too bossy.

It seems hard to find the happy medium. 

You just can't please everyone, even your bosses. I think that it is important to stay true to your core personality, make minor adjustments when needed; but we just can't be someone another person wants us to be or it comes across as unauthentic. 

If you just aren't matching with a boss or a coworker and they keep trying to change you but never happy with the change, then it may be time to find someone else to work with. 

Often excessive criticism of a person's work personality, rather than their work ethic or a work product, is just a disguise for a personality conflict that may never be resolved.