1. High profile men are beginning to talk about women in leadership as a key business issue.  I wrote earlier in the week about the business letter launched by the Male Champions of Change.  I’ve never seen anything like this in my global research and when you consider who the authors are and all the important priorities that must come across their desks, it’s a very promising sign.
2. Men are beginning to acknowledge this is a brave new world for them.  On Wednesday I attended the launch of the new AIM Gender Diversity in Management Greenpaper (which I’ll write more about later) and one of the speakers was Serge Sardo, CEO of AHRI.  Serge shared his vulnerability in this space: he’s not an expert in gender balance and he’s learning on his feet.  In fact he was raised in the southern Mediterranean culture and admitted (as a son) that “his mother peeled his oranges and poured his drinks”.  In other words he, like many of his contemporaries, are first generation gender equals and his personal frame of reference is having to completely flip in order to meet his own expectation of equal opportunities and entitlements for both his son and his daughter throughout their lifetime.
3. Even boys are beginning to call for change.  You might have heard about the work High Resolves is doing in its Global Citizenship Program with school students.  One of the projects produced last year by students at Sydney Boys High is this Gender Equality Project – in which a group of teenage boys acknowledge the injustice of gender inequality.  It’s certainly a promising sign for the future of gender balanced leadership...
   
   
   
4. Men are making choices that would never have been contemplated by their fathers.  This morning I decided that Master E and I would both have a late start, so before Daycare we took an impromptu early morning excursion to the Zoo.  And it’s sights like this – two dads with their kids doing exactly the same thing – that really left me thinking, the times they are a changing. 
   
   
   
   One thing I know for sure is that my father – and my husband’s father – would never, ever have done this!

So for sure, the change is slow… but it’s change nonetheless…

Your thoughts?  Are we seeing enough social shift? Do we need to do more?  Or is there enough change afoot to support gender balance in business and leadership?    

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Anonymous commented on 21-Oct-2011 02:49 PM

Like it. Love the school initiative!

Wendy Buckingham commented on 23-Oct-2011 10:48 AM

Great article. I think it is fabulous what is happening here and although the journey is slow and tough it is moving forward in many, if not all sections of our business and social society. On the question of parenting though, there needs to be a balance.
We have been saying for ages that children need to spend time with their fathers and fathers need to take more responsibility for care. But that cuts both ways, they also need a mother. We have to be careful that powerful career women don't let the pendulum
swing too far so they become "absent mothers" just as distant and irresponsible for their children as powerful career husbands can be. It's a delicate balancing act and one that needs the strength of a good partnership to work well without inequality or resentment.

The SheEO commented on 25-Oct-2011 10:36 AM

Great point Wendy, and I'm sure you see a lot of tell-tale signs in your coaching clients that there's still a lot of work we need to do as a society to ensure we're all directing our energies in the most appropriate directions. Thanks for your contribution,
which is insightful as always. Jen :-)

Anonymous commented on 25-Oct-2011 10:42 AM

We are seeing a social shift but it is potentially the start of a very dangerous shift. There is now a significant focus on reporting improved numbers of women in senior management and there is a visible push to recruit more women. All good so far…………….
but the problem is that I have seen dozens and dozens of instances where married men are being replaced by single women. Single women who have made it very clear that they are not the maternal types! Single women who have made it very clear that they are 24/7
careerists and they expect the same from everyone else. In my experience, the new sneerers of the part-time “walkers of shame” are overwhelmingly single women. Male and female parents are going to feel this shift. It will cost families. It does not bode well
for a balanced and truly diverse and respectful workforce. It will certainly not bring the benefits that a truly diverse workforce would bring.

The SheEO commented on 25-Oct-2011 10:45 AM

Oh dear, Anon, you're probably right. A bit of empathy can go a long way when it comes to our leaders - whatever their gender or marital status - even if I haven't first hand experience I always find it helpful to think "how would my sister/mum/brother/cousin
etc feel about this"... perhaps this is a simple step we could all practice in our leadership journeys...