In many industries, the gender diversity gap widens at the leadership ranks. Some industries are notoriously imbalanced – telecommunications for one. Even in professions that are largely female dominated such as education and health care, males more commonly hold the power positions. One of the unfortunate consequences of this trend is that women are expected to adopt stereotypically male characteristics as a ticket to entry. In some workplaces, women need to
out-man the men to gain credibility with their peers.
Gender is only one of the many variables of diversity that makes an organization healthy. Strong businesses weave difference into the fabric of entry-level, middle management, and senior leadership talent tiers. Thriving teams find a way to reflect the broad demographics of their customers in the design and delivery of their products and services. The greater the leadership accountability, the more essential diversity becomes.
Forge a call-to-action from the top down. Implement the following steps:
1. Anchor a commitment to leadership diversity in the goals and tactics of your strategic plan.
2. Include diversity-sensitive mentoring resources in the professional development investments made in your employees.
3. Populate your organizational values, mission statements, and performance measurement with diversity-friendly behavioral expectations.
4. Continuously ask your customers who they’d like to be leading the innovation and design of your products and services.
