Think Leader. Think Woman

It is fundamental that bias is eliminated as much as possible from assessment processes, starting at recruitment and maintained throughout every stage of an individual’s career up to, and including, the most senior leadership roles. Assessment of performance and merit should be objectively and value a spectrum of contributions (not just billable hours, for example) in a way which can be benchmarked and monitored for consistency. For example, blind and contextual recruitment, work allocation and gender balanced promotion rounds, assessment and renumeration panels, will help to attract more diverse candidates at entry level, and to retain and support them throughout their careers, developing high performers that will feel ready, willing, and encouraged to take on senior leadership roles.

In addition, it is crucial to avoid narrow definitions and categorisations; because dividing people in “groups” often has the unintended result of focusing on their differences, rather than commonalities, hence feeding into prejudice, discrimination and conflict (us vs them). That’s why we must move away from narrowly defined “diversity initiatives” (e.g. sponsorship for women or leadership coaching for ethnic minority employees) and towards more inclusive approaches looking at culture and behaviours.

Ultimately, success lies in creating an environment in which people feel supported for who they are, a workplace that understands that all our identities are at the intersection of a number of characteristics (e.g. gender and race, or sexual orientation, or age, disability, class,..) and hence promotes new visions of leadership and merit that go beyond the current stereotypes largely dominated by a western, white male perspective of success.