… Than men themselves? Yes, quite possibly! At least for certain topics. But first, a disclaimer: for the sake of brevity and clarity, I’m over-simplifying an already-controversial topic. Bear with me here, and save the rotten tomatoes for compost. With that said, here goes….

Experts from a wide range of fields, from evolutionary psychology to behavioral science, seem to agree that men are driven to compete with each other—whether it be for resources, status, power, knowledge, and so forth.

Evolutionary psychology proponents such as Robert Wright explain that this driver can be more or less present depending on the situation, but is always present, even if it’s only in the background. Which would make it understandably harder for men to reveal their vulnerabilities to one another— who’d want to expose his weaknesses to competitors?

Unfortunately, great coaching work can sometimes require complete openness to achieve true breakthroughs. One good example is the “silencing the inner critic” work we’d previously covered. Even admitting that you have a critical inner voice is already revealing a vulnerability; let alone revealing what exactly it says to you. Unfortunately, both are critical steps to improving the situation.

In this scenario, choosing a coach with whom there isn’t even a hint of biological urge for competition would make it much easier to open up. Of course, the question then becomes: what of women coaching women? Now, that’s another matter indeed…