International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that is designed to celebrate the achievements of women. ‘I am Generation Equality’ is the theme for this year, with the hastag ‘Each for Equal’.
International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that is designed to celebrate the achievements of women. ‘I am Generation Equality’ is the theme for this year, with the hastag ‘Each for Equal’. The concept is that ‘an equal world is an enabled world’ which certainly feels self evident!
Then again, I am a woman, so no surprise I would feel this way! As a Socialised Maverick, I find the idea self evident as well. Surely having an equal world is the best way to ensure that we can work for the greater good. A chance to do something meaningful with the gifts that we have?
I was pondering on the fact that many women believe, and statistics show, that there is often a wide gulf between what women are paid compared to men; and that women face more obstacles in the workplace compared to men. It is clear that despite the tradition of celebrating International Women’s Day since the early 1900s, gender equality is yet to happen. Despite Equality Laws in numerous countries.
Why is this?
According to the Weforum:
None of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and nor likely will many of our children.
Weforum.org
They also advise that gender parity will not be attained for 99.5 years. That’s right, 99.5 years.
Let that sink in.
How can this be good?
Well the short answer is it can’t be. It surely can’t be good, productive, desirable to have half the world population believing their contribution to society is of less value. Or the inverse. Half the population believing that they are more than.
People, side by side, one person thinking their contribution is of more value and the other resenting this belief.
Resentment does not help grow, develop or sustain a business. Unjustified belief destroys companies and people.
To allow this to happen, worse, actively maintain it – is not leadership. It is cowardice. It’s refusing to do something either because you believe that gender parity is not necessary because you are more than; or that it’s too difficult or not desirable to change. It’s not responding to how your company is declining due to not utilising its workforce properly; or watching the world devalue half its population and hope for the best.
It’s not working for the greater good.
Not something that a Maverick Leader can accept, let alone justify. I am Generation Equality … an equal world is an enabled world.
How will you enable others to create the world that we all need?
