As more and more women rise to leadership, are men being left behind? How do we drive progress towards more gender-balanced workplaces in a way that doesn’t overlook men? And how do we address the growing backlash against gender equality? Lori Meakin, author of No More Menemies, has some answers.
We all know that the business case for gender diversity is strong, and we rightly celebrate increasing numbers of women in leadership. But when you’re a man – especially a straight white man – what does that mean for you?
In some areas, men are still getting promoted at least as often as women. A recent FTSE report noted that “despite the rhetoric, the appointment rate in FTSE 350 Leadership teams remains heavily skewed towards men.” But adland is often a different picture, with many leadership teams already being majority women, particularly in media agencies.
Of course, it’s unlawful to discriminate against any gender when recruiting. But there’s a very real sense that men in the industry feel they’re “at the bottom of any recruiters wish list” these days. This reflects a feeling that’s common in life more broadly, as the majority of men in Britain – 59% – now believe that “we have gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we are discriminating against men.” And it’s younger men who are the most likely to think this.
These fears and frustrations that swirl around the issue of gender at work damage all of us. But there are things we can all do to help in the workplace:
1. Look beyond the headline narrative to find accurate data. Loss aversion is a powerful cognitive bias, but the fear of obsolescence that most men feel right now may not always be borne out by the facts. Leaders can help by being transparent about their data, framing it with relevant contextual numbers, and remembering that the ideal leadership team isn’t dominated by any one gender .
2. Focus on the qualities of truly effective leadership. For instance, emotional intelligence is proven to be one of the most valuable leadership qualities. And because of the way girls tend to be socialised, women currently over-index in it… but many men can be brilliantly emotionally intelligent too.
3. Foster cultures where diversity of thought can really thrive in your business. Recruiting diverse teams is pointless if they’re all expected to think and behave the same once they get there. Leaders who complement, not replicate each other is the ideal.
Find out more about how The Others & Me help gender-diverse teams work better together to drive business growth: https://www.theothersandme.com/products-leadership
