The 8th March brought us the annual International Women’s Day, and this year’s theme #breakingthebias resonated with me.
As a female leader and a mother to three children and two stepchildren, celebrating and supporting women is close to my heart. The truth is, I still find it frustrating that we have to have an International Women’s Day.
As much as I love seeing people give thanks and respect to important people in their life at any time, it seems disturbing to think we are in a society where we still need to list all the influential or important women we know, as though they are rare!
We are 50% of the population, and the fact that bias is still an issue breaks my heart.
I grew up believing that men and women were equal, but as I grew older, I realised more and more all the biases that still exist, including those I even subconsciously felt myself. As I saw many other women quote on LinkedIn this year, I have been on the receiving end of many comments such as, you’re too nice, you put other people first too much and are you able to make the tough decisions? (aka fire people) – ‘Critiques’ that are generally only handed to women. I am sorry to say that earlier in my career, these worried me.
I felt I had to pretend to be harsh or make decisions I knew were wrong because I thought it made me look tough. The reality is understanding and caring for your people is the most impactful thing a leader can do.
Empathy is powerful and is not too nice.
The people are the business and, as for firing people, being tough, well no. The tough and brave decision is actually to support someone who is struggling and try to turn them around. To focus on their development and inspire and motivate them.
The Covid pandemic has been so difficult for so many, but surely one of the few positives that have come from it is the challenge it provided to all the unbelievers in working from home, who thought if they let people juggle their childcare, laundry and job, they couldn’t possibly achieve as much. But actually, it has shown just how committed and versatile we all are when given trust.
This is a moment of real opportunity for businesses everywhere to embrace a still sadly underutilised workforce, fulfilling their true potential, less hamstrung by guilt. Change comes from every one of us challenging our assumptions and biases daily and most importantly, ensuring they are not passed on to our kids.
Here’s to a world where IWD isn’t needed.
