Issue #2: A Different Table
Welcome back, particularly the Men — I’m glad you’re here, because I made July “Men’s Month” and I have a few reflections for everyone. At Echo Juliette we work with Executive Teams meaning most of my clients are Men, as were most of my peers and employees throughout my 30+ year career. Men have been the greatest influence on my career success and the greatest challenge. I learned everything I know from them and everything I have had to unlearn. Men are suffering right now and not all of them know it. Men are living in a world that has been socially engineered to give them a lot of power, but to also expect A LOT from them. Many people are angry about the power Men have been given and how they have been using it. I understand — if we’re not pleased with how the world is operating — poverty, discrimination, climate change, human health, war — then we should look at who has been in charge and we should want them to cede power, right? Sure, but that’s not my approach. It’s zero-sum thinking to believe that one person has to give up power for another to gain it and that power struggle is what got us into this situation in the first place. Men need Women at the business table because Women change the dynamic in the room. Anyone with differences changes the dynamic in the room. We are so used to “professional”, “executive”, and “CEO” looking a certain way that when they look “different” from that archetype it can feel uncomfortable and foreign. What does an executive look like to you? People different from ourselves force us… I use the word “force” intentionally, because if we don’t adapt then we aren’t living up to our full potential as leaders or as an organization. Not adapting will leave our people feeling unheard and unseen and they will think of you as inflexible, close-minded, and old school — because you would be. My mission to develop extraordinary executives and build high-performing teams is the sole reason that I promote diversity and inclusion at organizations. Not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it is the only thing that makes sense to do. The alternative is poor leadership and I’m tired of hearing stories every day about toxic workplaces full of discrimination, harassment, and lack of humanity. None of us wants that, none of us deserves it, and it doesn’t make good business sense. Men’s month was well received and I think that’s because Men want to be included in the discussion and be a part of creating better organizations together. They don’t want to be seen as the cause of what’s not working for all of us, they want to be on the winning team. We have 11 months until the next Men’s Month, so let’s see how much progress we can all make together between now and then. From the Executive Maven Toolkit In each issue I share a simple tool from our library and today I am sharing the Stakeholder Line. It is an easy way to think about your support network as a continuum rather than in two buckets. It’s also helpful in neutralizing the people who are taking a disproportionate amount of your time away from building relationships and supporting the people who can have the greatest impact on your success. Take a look and have fun making your own (just don’t leave it on the printer!) From Elizabeth on LinkedIn Men’s Month covered a lot of ground, but I also took a break last week to spend time with author Elizabeth Leiba and the women in my much cherished global, virtual bookclub. We had just finished reading her book, I’m Not Yelling: A Black Woman’s Guide to Navigating the Workplace. Read what I thought of the book and what it meant to my bookclub in my LinkedIn post here. Research and Expert Resources The Gender Social Norms Index was released last month. The GSNI quantifies biases against women, capturing people’s attitudes on women’s roles. The index, covers 85 percent of the global population and reveals that close to 9 out of 10 men and women hold fundamental biases against women. Nearly half the world’s people believe that men have more right to a job than women do, and two of five people believe that men make better business executives than women do. Before you think “not us” note that this data is not skewed by country — gender biases are pronounced in both low and high Human Development Index (HDI) countries. Yes, these biases hold across regions, income, level of development and cultures—making them a truly global issue. You can read the United Nations full report here. Links and Resources The Executive Maven has been added to the Juliette Works blog, which has other blog posts on a variety of different career topics. You can check it out here. If you’d like to receive The Executive Maven in your email box on the 14th and 28th of every month you may sign up here.
