Is Gender Fatigue - a matter of Will or Skill?
Perhaps like me, when you read the AFR article highlighting Australian men are suffering from Gender Fatigue, you concluded it’s more a matter of Will, than Skill.
As we’ve been on this journey for some time now, and climate change is literally coming faster to Australia than Gender Equality, perhaps fatigue is to be expected.
However, my experience suggests, with a small tweak, we can refocus our efforts and change our trajectory, by supporting both Will and Skill.
Why Fatigue and Fear?
Unsurprisingly, the report highlighted senior men are more open to increasing gender equality than those at the frontline. As senior leaders are accountable for top and bottom line commercial performance, and understand the unambiguous impact well executed Diversity and Inclusion strategies have on companies, it’s easy to understand why they have the Will.
Concerningly, but also understandably, leaders at the frontline are suffering the greatest fatigue and also fear of reverse discrimination.
As my family's breadwinner, I have experienced those very same concerns and I have genuine empathy for their plight.
As a leadership and business transformation expert, I also know, even the best strategy is doomed to fail without the ACTIVE daily decisions of frontline leaders.
It's frontline leaders, who play the largest role in determining the every day personal and professional experiences of the great majority in your organisation. Which means their fatigue and fear is coming at an unsustainable price for companies, individuals and society.
Is there a Solution?
Whilst Boards and Senior Leadership Teams understand why Diversity and Inclusion matter, it’s clear progress is often “stuck" at the strategy level.
To "unstick strategy", I've learned from my business and leadership transformation experience at global Tech Company, SAP, you have to:
Treat Diversity and Inclusion as you would any other viable and vibrant business strategy;
Mobilise the Middle to align and coordinate the strategy;
Fire up Frontline Leadership to enable the strategy;
Move Beyond Bias to Belonging, to realise the strategy.
To achieve all of the above, you need WILL and SKILL - at all levels of your organisation.
How do you create Commitment, when Fatigue has set in?
You Target Will - by Making it Matter
Hard performance metrics for those with power and influence, enable competitive commercial advantage.
Metrics also support the realisation of a company strategy committed to doing the RIGHT thing, where everyone equally can flourish.
You Target Skill - by Transferring Skills.
Our traditional focus on "Diversity Days / Events", has effectively created exposure and support for under-represented communities, but has not created a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging, for everyone equally.
As it's Inclusive Cultures which enable the commercial and human impact - it's critical we urgently address this.
One of the reasons for the fatigue and slow progress (although of course not all), is because our historical approach has relied on Unconscious Bias training - which has increased sensitivity but not skill.
Whilst targeting Will is a fairly mechanical process which requires aligning strategy, remuneration and communication, targeting Skill requires a more nuanced and individual approach.
What are the Key Skills for Creating Inclusion?
What slowly dawned on me as I was developing modern inclusive leaders around the world at SAP, was:
Leaders already have all the inclusion skills required, they just need to apply them with everyone equally.
Making the decision to connect with curiosity and collaborate with everyone equally, fundamentally changes the way Leaders approach people they don't feel as naturally comfortable with.
It's a natural human response to close down in unfamiliar territory, but deciding to be consciously inclusive with everyone equally, is far more achievable than rewiring a brain to remove bias.
How do we overcome our natural Discomfort of Difference?
Because it matters commercially and professionally, and it is the right thing to do for people and society, we make a conscious decision to do so.
ACT Therapy in Psychology confirms it's a very successful approach and by:
refocusing on Will and Skill, we can create renewed energy and commitment, for everyone equally.
Are some Behaviours more Powerful than Others?
Yes they are. However, learning inclusive behaviour is not about learning a new skill from scratch. It’s about transferring something we already do every day, and applying it with everyone equally.
As a high performance teams and inclusive leadership specialist, I can help you transfer your frontline leadership's existing skills into a powerful toolkit to reignite your Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.