How can we get men involved in marketing's inclusivity conversation?
Having attended a few inclusivity conferences and events recently, I find myself in a room which is usually about 90 per cent female. Given that most people are now on board with the idea that inclusivity isn’t just about gender, how do we get more men along to be part of the conversation?
Roxanne Hobbs
It is perhaps understandable that they're not coming. Men haven't, as yet, really been invited in to public spaces to talk about this particular issue. When they do talk, we have been guilty of jumping on them for saying the wrong thing. They may well be making up that this topic is important for women (and even their wives, sisters and daughters) but not for them.
And whilst I would like to see men being a bigger part of the conversation about female leadership, the challenge of people going back in the closet when they start work and the difficulty in attracting and retaining the BAME community in our industry, the conversation I really want to have with them is how our corporate culture gets in the way of them truly showing up as themselves.
So this is a shout out to all the men out there. An invitation, if you like, to come and join in.
1. We think it could make people want to work with you
Modern leadership requires empathy, vulnerability and a core belief in the power of people (which really is the only resource our industry has). Daren Rubins talks about feminine leadership as the operating model for 21st century (Bloom AYP conference), and appeals to female talent by championing the effectiveness of female returners. Paul Frampton’s Manbassadors initiative has guaranteed him some column inches, cemented his leadership agenda as one of ‘change’ and, more importantly, has been followed through with real action that he’s prepared to get transparent about. What message could joining the inclusivity debate send to your current teams and future teams? How could it impact upon your leadership?
2. Would you want your wife or daughter to work here?
If the idea of getting involved from a personal leadership perspective isn’t enough, consider the women in your own life. Would you really want your wife or daughter to work in your company? What can you do to ensure a more level playing field where you work? To paraphrase a recent Esquire article about gender inclusivity; “This is not your fault. But it is your problem. As all issues of human rights are your problem, if you are a human. (You are a human, correct?)."
3. Are you really showing up as yourself?
We are really beginning to understand and appreciate how gender stereotypes negatively impact upon men. If you haven't seen it yet, please watch Grayson Perry's excellent series on masculinity on Channel Four. In the first episode, he visits miners’ towns and speaks to cage fighters in the North East and it is truly heartbreaking how some of these 'hard', 'tough' men just don't have the ability to talk about their inner worlds.
We have a hunch that the expectations on men in our industry can be equally damaging – we expect men to work hard, to be ambitious, to banter and be one of the boys. Being perceived as weak is the number one shame trigger in men, making it so difficult to ask for help or to admit to any mental health struggles. Research that I’ve carried out showed me that men are just as desperate to spend more time with their families and to take the pressure off of themselves, and in many ways this is even harder for them to achieve than it is for women.
If improving diversity is about improving the amount of difference that exists in our industry, inclusivity is about people being able to show up as themselves and to be valued for it. This is a pertinent subject for everybody, not just those who have historically been seen as a minority group in the corporate world. We extend an open invite – and promise to have fun and not to shout at you.
The HeANDShe conference is held on evening of 28 June at Mindshare. We will be discussing if it’s time to rethink how we approach gender diversity in our organisations alongside Harriet Minter (female leadership editor of The Guardian), Dr Jack Lewis (neuroscientist), Natasha Devon OBE (government’s former mental health champion for schools) and Paul Frampton (Group CEO Havas Media Group UK and Ireland).
Roxanne Hobbs is founder of The Hobbs Consultancy