Dear leaders in Tech,
I have a request. A request on direct behalf of approximately 51% of the population. A request that will benefit 100% of the population. A request that has been proven to increase innovation and revenue. A request that is just simply the right thing to do.
Hire ? more ? women ? on ? your ? leadership ? teams ?
In the year 2019, if we take a gander at your Meet Our Leadership Team page of your website and see a panel of all males, there’s a problem. It’s no longer an option; leadership teams need to be diverse. They need to include women. Your long term livelihood as a company depends on it. Our evolution as a society depends on it.
And it’s no longer ok to just say, ‘We’re open to hiring more women on our leadership teams. We’re looking for them.’ You have to go out of your way to look for women with leadership potential and promote them. Go out of your way to mentor and coach women who show an aptitude for understanding the way people tick. Go out of your way and invite a female colleague out for beers when the male co workers go out after work- you know, when the real networking happens. Don’t exclude her from the unofficial official things men do that get them promoted in the workplace.
Women already in leadership positions in your companies: we’re relying on you to lift your fellow female colleagues up. Advocate for them. Amplify their good ideas. Call people out when women are talked over, interrupted, or mansplained to. Form a coalition.
And men: we need you to be women’s partners in this endeavor. Women can’t fight or win this fight alone. The research is clear that women need male advocacy to give equality measures traction and make them stick. We need you as allies.
2019 is going to be a great year, and a great opportunity to lunge the US into the 21st century in terms of women’s equality in traditionally men’s realms. And we’re relying on you, Tech- the prettiest princess right now of industries- to lead the way in this endeavor; fervently and unapologetically.