ARE WOMEN BARRACUDAS? SPEAKER SAYS THEY CAN BE

Women, your sister in the workplace may be undermining your efforts, spreading gossip about you and taking credit for your work.

Judith Briles, author and speaker on women's issues, says sabotage happens everywhere, especially among women, and it's on the rise.

But she says sabotage can be transformed to support by following some common-sense rules. One of the first is to recognize what is happening.

Briles is keynote speaker for the Womancare Conference scheduled March 4-5 at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau.

Friday is a "Pamper Yourself Night" from 4-10 p.m. with glamour treatments, demonstrations and various exhibits and mini-sessions.

On Saturday the workshop begins at 8:30 a.m. and continues through 3:30 p.m.

Briles will speak on three topics: "Woman to Woman: From Sabotage to Support;" "The Confidence Factor;" and "Financial Savvy for Women."

In a telephone interview, Briles said: "It's happening all over the place. Actually it's growing.

"Partly it's an awareness. People call it what it is," she said. "Second, the economy has been a contributing factor. With layoffs or downsizing, the people first hit those with less power. Women feel they have got to protect what they have."

Another contributing factor, Briles said, is that women often deny sabotage is going on.

Briles said she became interested in workplace sabotage when a female partner embezzled from her company.

"I began asking, Were the signs there? If they were there, how come I didn't see them or chose not to act on them?" Briles said.

At the same time she was looking for a project for her dissertation. "My background is finance, but I was really fascinated with how come I was embezzled when certainly I am not dumb. I know how to read a balance sheet.

"It had everything to do with being a woman and a friend. There were signals, but I didn't call her on it. Women are more flexible and more forgiving. We will go into a rationalization. Maybe it's because the kids were up all night."

In 1987 Briles did a nationwide study and learned that women were more likely to undermine other women.

"Men sabotage people all the time," she said. But women are more covert. Men are equal-opportunity saboteurs.

Following up on the original study, Briles did a second survey and has written a new book due out in September which updates the report. "Undermining was up 34 percent since 1987," she said. "But the percentage for men didn't change."

The new study also found that 87 percent of women who had been undermined felt it was done intentionally.

It also revealed that a third of the women who work in health care, a female-dominated field, prefer not to work with women. "This is a problem," Briles said.

Her answer is to build the confidence of women so they feel less threatened and more secure in their positions.

"The people who do the undermining lack confidence and the people who are undermined lack confidence," Briles said.

Briles will present her tips toward building confidence. She urges women to speak up and speak out and to compete.

Many women suffer from "confrontaphobia," the fear of confronting someone.

"Women are usually brought up not to dive into a conflict," Briles said. "The myth is that conflicts are not normal and should be avoided."

She says women must identify and circulate the unwritten rules of the workplace and must realize that not every woman is a friend.

"There are people who do not have your sincere best interests at heart," said Briles. "Women are more inclined to plunge into a trusting relationship. Men are the opposite."

Briles said, "Woman to Woman is a very serious topic, but also I always believe we should have a little fun."

While she is classified as a motivational speaker, Briles said she gives her audiences some substance as well. "When they go back to the workplaces I want them to say, `Wait a minute, I remember this.'"

In addition to presentations by Briles, the conference includes sessions titled "Let's Talk -- Communication Between Men and Women;" "Messages Through Music;" "Empowering Families to Become Self-reliant;" "Financial Savvy for Women;" "A Woman's Guide to a Healthy Heart;" "Eating on the Run'" "Attitudes in Action: Women's Self-protection;" and "Setting Priorities and Learning to Say No."

Corporate sponsors for the conference are Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. and Dr. and Mrs. Frank W. Braxton.

For more information, call 339-6209.