Lessons Corporate UK could learn from Parliament
Fiona Hathorn
CEO of WB Directors and Portfolio NED. Governance, Leadership, Remco & Investment Oversight Expert. (She/Her)
Whilst those with differing political views will be celebrating or commiserating the new House of Commons intake this week, personally I am blown away by the sheer diversity in its members.?
This is the most gender balanced Commons ever (41% female); there are sufficient female MPs with the depth of experience to form the most gender balanced Cabinet; the youngest MP is just 22 years old; the leader of the opposition is of an ethnic minority background, as are many tipped to run as his successor and the - very politically different - Mother of the House, Diane Abbott.?The Cabinet also holds our first female Chancellor, first Muslim Justice Minister and our first Housing Minister who lived in social housing...the list could go on.?
This deep and broad change in our representatives has not just come around naturally. We only need to look at Corporate UK to see that diverse populations, and even teams, overall do not naturally flow into diverse leadership.?
Huge credit needs to go to both major parties’ internal operations in delivering this shift. They have taken on a long-term change project to shift the demographics in their elected representatives whilst preserving the high quality of candidates we all need.?
How they have done this differs, given they are very differently structured as organisations – but I note some lessons that other organisations looking to diversify their leadership may wish to consider.?
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I should caveat that I am not an expert on the internal structures of political parties, and welcome any insight from those with more knowledge in the comments, particularly on the smaller parties (except Reform, who I am excluding from this piece given their all-male parliamentary party and more).?
What both Conservative and Labour do have in common is a vibrant and active internal women’s network. These networks are not merely talking shops, but effective and practical change agents.?They offer training, support and crucial encouragement to prospective female candidates. I know well the power of the ‘secret sauce’ a women’s network can deliver - I’m proud our Women on Boards network has played a similar role in diversifying the NED space, and thank our many experienced NEDs for continuing to support us by sharing their knowledge and keeping the ladder down to help others climb up.?
The diversity of Parliament also blows a hole through the assertion that women don’t want demanding roles with serious responsibility. Of course, not all women do, nor do all men - but clearly there are numerous women willing and able to take on the incredibly tough role of an MP. I note what this role does have, which perhaps some corporate roles lack, is a good level of autonomy, a clear sense of purpose and some level of flexibility around what are very long hours.?
I’d welcome any other observations on how the political parties have succeeded in diversifying, whilst many private companies are struggling…
Fiona Hathorn thank you for sharing this insightful article.
Commercial Director & Co-Founder Azuli International. Passionate about the #EnergyTransition and #CarbonCapture ventures
4 个月Fiona Hathorn I totally agree. I had a slight 'hairs on the back of my neck' moment when I looked at the new cabinet. Fabulous to see serious senior women in positions of power - and hope they are given a proper run at the roles. Frighteningly, this was actually the first election in which I have actually had a female candidate from which to select on my ballot paper. And select her I did ??
As always a thought provoking piece from Fiona catching the high level issues that have not previously been so clearly articulated. The challenge as always is having diverse role models in both political parties and private companies who are prepared to challenge prevailing structures , processes and behaviours which do not reinforce an environment which drives Diversity .
This is a great overview of the make up of the new Parliament. It is gratifying to see the increased levels of diversity and I take my hat off to anyone who stands for public office. I wish them all well. Being an MP is a tough job.
Senior Marketing leader and Coach of people and teams. I work with women leaders who feel frustrated that they are not achieving their full potential, or who want to find a better balance between work and life.
4 个月One of the things that the corporate world could do is be more publicly intentional and ride out the inevitable criticism that introducing change will evoke. The Labour Party introduced all women shortlists in 1993. It required a shift in behaviour. It wasn't universally popular (slight understatement) but did deliver results. Sometimes individuals need to give up power for others to take it up. I once asked, a bit tongue in cheek, which of my male colleagues would move on/give up their leadership role and how would they proactively identify a woman successor. I'm not suggesting all women shortlists for the corporate world but I am suggesting intention AND action.