An Introduction: “You will have to work twice as hard because your female, it’s not what I think… that’s just the way it is”.
I’m the Chief Operation Officer for a professional services firm. I am in fact CEO but I must call myself COO because it might upset my 36-year-old male colleague. It sounds ridiculous when I write it down, yet the truth is, I’m not alone. I run a moderately successful business where the age range of the employees is 20-38. This isn’t an outdated, bureaucratic dinosaur but a forward-thinking, entrepreneurial business. I kick ass all day long when it comes to running a business, driving forward an industry but I allow myself to be held back by my male counter-parts and shareholders.
I don’t think of myself as someone who is afraid to stand up and push for change, it’s probably the reasons why I am where I am now. So where does it come from?
“You will have to work twice as hard because you’re a woman, it’s not what I think… that’s just the way it is”. This was said to me by the majority shareholder of the business. “It’s not what I think… that’s just the way it is”, ‘I’m not racist but…’,’no offence’, all sentences that typically mean the exact opposite. The problem with this should be glaringly obvious; here is a business leader, someone that sees himself as an ‘industry disruptor’, a creative and forward-thinking businessman falling so far short of the image he has for himself and for his company. I don’t know about you but ‘that’s just the way it is’ is not a phrase I’ve heard many entrepreneurs use. They spend their time trying to build something better than what already is there.
We celebrate industry disruptors and forward-thinking tycoons, we study their methodology and even their morning routines but where are the forward-thinking business leaders recognising unconscious bias in the work place? According to Leanin.Org statistics on equal pay[1], at the current pace of progress, the UK will have closed the gender pay gap by 2064. Could you imagine saying to a shareholder or your boss ‘that at the rate of progress you are currently making with that high priority project that you dedicate your time on will be just about finalised in 47 years’ time?’
Entrepreneurial business leaders operate by pushing forward with ideas and a ‘if you want to do it, then make it happen’ way of working which has seen many of them get to the top. The female workforce is being stagnated and pushed aside because of this ‘that’s just the way it is’ attitude. Here’s the thing, I must see myself that way too. I haven’t listed myself as CEO despite that being my job title, I didn’t walk away when I was told I need to work harder because I’m a woman. I am holding up my end of the bargain in all of this by not pushing for better for myself. I know I can do it for others; in my management team, there are 2 men and 2 women, all in their positions because they earnt it and because they continue to work for it. I need to be the disruptor, I need to be the forward-thinking business leader and act for myself as well as others.
Let’s take this opportunity to get moving, let’s make it happen and let’s start seeing ourselves as who we are; dedicated, hardworking, remarkable, talented people who will make you a lot of money and build business empires.
[1] https://leanin.org/equalpay/data
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