Head of Financial Wellness @ Maslow | Financial Educator | LinkedIn Top Voice | Founder | Speaker | Chemical Engineer
Ever been on a #manel? Here's your 'how to deal with it' playbook for next time you take the stage and realise there's no female representation. Stellar move, Lance Wiggs. You rock. Want to be an ally? Treat it like a verb, not a noun. Take action. Even if it risks making the organisers uncomfortable (which this clearly didn't because it was handled with grace). But don't sit there like a stunned mullet. Participation is implicit approval. The standard you walk past etc etc. And for crying out loud, don't just ask a woman to moderate instead. Nothing screams 'token effort' quite so blatantly. Women in Technology WA Inc. (WiTWA) Women's Agenda
Commercial Leader | NZ Hi Tech Award Judge | Author | Podcaster | Rongowhakaata & Te āti Awa
Diversity. Is it a box-checking exercise? Or something more? As a judge on the New Zealand HiTech Awards I was invited along to the Award Alumni conference yesterday. To participate in learning, sharing and networking, with high-flying tech colleagues. I was originally just a guest and I was looking forward to the next panel discussion on the current climate of Capital Raising. Lance Wiggs (a panel member) upon joining the stage, noticed something was awry and immediately did something about it: 'hey guys, this is a mistake and not intended. But due to covid-cancellations we have ended up with a "manel" (man-panel). Is there any woman out there, who has experience with Capital Raising, who could join us up here?'. Happy to help out, as I love a good stage. I jumped up to volunteer. And it was fun to participate (thanks for the opportunity!). But why was Lance's awareness and insistence on the issue so important? I was once involved in a diversity conversation with a CEO of a large company. They were very aware that the optics, of their all male Executive Team, were bad for the company. Those in the conversation that day were assured by the CEO that their new focus would be on improving diversity, at Executive level: "it wasn't a box-checking exercise for them". It was a good starting-conversation (the women in the business were sick of the in-action). I could absolutely tell that there was good intentions to change and get this right. Until I asked "why". "Why do you think this is important?" It was a good question, because it became quickly obvious that they didn't really understand the 'why'. They just knew it was 'important'... But let's make this clear: if you don't know the 'why', you simply cannot get this right, or anything right. Without 'the why' you cannot build a company fit for your employees. You will not create products fit for your customers. And you certainly cannot deliver an optimised and profitable business for your shareholders. The 'why' is everything. So my question to you, my LinkedIn colleagues is: do YOU know the 'why' of diversity and can you articulate it? (Note: the HiTech Foundation reiterated they absolutely had a diverse panel line-up to begin with. Covid meant cancellations and last minute scrambling let them down.) #technology #HTANZ #diversity David Downs Vignesh Kumar Rudi Bublitz【ツ】Victoria MacLennan
Senior Compliance & Continuous Improvement Specialist
2 年https://allmalepanels.tumblr.com/ https://twitter.com/allmalepanels?lang=en These "Congrats you've got an all-male panel" platforms have been documenting this for a while too.