Male Bosses Need to Speak Up for Gender Balance
When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked why he intentionately appointed a cabinet made up of an equal number of male and female members, he stated, “Because it’s 2015.”
By Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, HBR.org
Does anyone else find it strange that the debate heating up in the US around gender imbalances in the workplace is overwhelmingly a conversation among … women? This constant frame of gender as a “women’s issue” is one of the big obstacles to progress — in both countries and companies.
Is there any doubt that women are where they are today in part thanks to the male partners — at home and at work — that accompanied them throughout the last half century’s revolutions? I have rarely met a successful woman who was not developed and promoted by at least one enlightened man.
The challenge is that progressive men are not always highly effective leaders on gender issues, in part because they have not been particularly involved in the conversation. It is high time they were. And high time more women invited them in.
In my experience working with companies, there are three main reasons that progressive men hesitate to speak up for gender balance:
1. It’s a no-brainer. The first group consider the case for gender balance so obvious that it doesn’t require elaboration or argument.
The challenge is that these leaders don’t think they need to convince anyone of the benefits of balance. They don’t think anyone needs to hear any kind of business case anymore — that is yesterday’s battle. They assume their teams are all aligned behind them, and all they need to do is communicate a target. They usually launch enthusiastically into the fray, overcommunicating their goal and underestimating the incomprehension that usually meets their efforts. They end up frustrated a few years on at the lack of progress. These leaders often waste precious years and goodwill on ineffective approaches (usually targeted at women, rather than at the entire organization). Essentially, they charge out of the closet — and into the frying pan.
As a result, these leaders often take overly aggressive approaches with unrealistic timelines that then create a backlash. They usually revisit the topic with more appropriate resourcing after a few years of unsatisfactory progress, or their successor quietly shelves their efforts.
2. It’s not worth fighting for (or being identified with). A second group are quiet supporters but don’t want to make it a big deal. It’s kind of like religion; something to be practiced quietly at home or in their own teams, but not preached about in public.
This is probably the attitude of most progressive men I’ve met. That majority status makes these men absolutely crucial to changing the cultures of the companies and countries where they work. Moreover, they are currently developing, promoting and financing tomorrow’s talent. This requires the skills and engagement to be proactively leading on gender. Yet in many of the sessions I run, it is the nay-sayers that are loud, assertive and argumentative. The progressive men hold back, occasionally suggesting a caveat to a reactionary’s voluble bluster. It takes a lot of courage for men to stand up to other men on the topic of gender balancing.
And yet too many progressive men are taken aback by some of the reactions and often decide that gender is not priority enough to be worth fighting for. They let the louder voices dominate the debate.
3. It will happen naturally. A final group of leaders are the ones who already have gender balanced their teams. They argue that it is a simple case of meritocracy: recognizing and promoting the best people. They assume that since the pipeline of colleges, graduate programs, and entry- to mid-level jobs are full of high-performing women, that merit will win out and eventually women will start to make it in real numbers to the senior levels.
In doing so, they underestimate their own skills and “gender bilingualism.” They don’t recognize that their own abilities to recognize talent equally well among both men and women is an unusual skill that not all managers possess. They are usually reluctant to spend much time and effort in equipping others with the skills and awareness that they themselves take for granted. This blind spot has much the same effect as the others — ineffective leadership on the issue.
If you’re reading this and recognize any of your own impulses here, there are specific actions you can take to have more influence on this issue. First, learn how to lead on gender or learn how you already do. Ask for feedback from your team, about how your management style may differ from others they have experienced. Know the data relevant to your sector and company. Second, recognize that your colleagues may not buy the idea of equality. So sell it. Third, recognize that even if your your colleagues like the idea of gender balance, they may not know how to get there. Teach them what you know. Finally, if you’ve decided to make this a major initiative at your firm — bravo! — just don’t appoint a woman to lead the charge. Male majorities buy the business case for gender balance better from a man.
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