Are We Making Inclusion Exclusive?

I remember the moment, years ago, when Inclusion and diversity became important in my organisation. I was facilitating a Q&A of our Executive Committee at a conference at the beautiful resort of Lago Maggiore.?An employee bravely posed a question, ‘why are you all white and male?’

Instantly, I could feel the mood in the room change.?The previously comfortable, smiling, assured men on the stage were suddenly discombobulated.?Close up, I could see the fear in their eyes, the fidgeting on seats, the looking to one another for an answer and then anxiously looking to me when none came.?

It was a simple and yet powerful question.?In retrospect, it was a defining moment for our organisation.

The stage was dramatically set for change, and yet it was against a backdrop of fear.

Rationally and intellectually, the case for equal gender inclusion had been made and won.?Even putting to one side the most important elements of fairness & equality, research overwhelmingly showed us that diverse and inclusive organisations out-perform those that are more homogenous.?

When we asked the question, ‘is gender equality important?’ of course we got a flurry of hands raised, some with real speed and commitment, others more reluctantly.?It’s a no-brainer, after all. Fairly obviously, any ambitious male exec quickly realised, if I don’t agree, there could be consequences.

So, like most companies, we set upon a change programme, identifying goals we wanted to achieve, articulating our purpose and aligning and assigning roles and accountabilities.?We set about launching our vision to our employees, led by our fully and authentically engaged CEO.?We had lots of positive, committed statements from the senior team, promising to change the world, whatever it would take.?The pledges sounded profound, powerful and emotive.?Some were deeply authentic.?Some, I suspect, were self serving and merely rhetoric.

At the launch, I was sat next to one senior leader who muttered under his breath, ‘well there goes my career opportunities!’?I knew that wasn’t the case, I knew it wasn’t a rational thing to say, that it was petulant and self-serving.?But nonetheless, it was clear that the fear I witnessed back in Lago Maggiore, was still present.

As I reflect, as a direct consequence of that sense of fear and subsequent resistance, our approach had become parental and ever-so-slightly coercive in nature.?The programme of activity was an instruction to take this seriously and get active, rather than entering the conversation from an adult to adult position, based on exploration, self reflection and building self awareness.

The most common reaction to fear and threat, from those who feel senior and powerful, is usually the ‘fight’ response.?When that fight response struggles to have a legitimate basis (i.e. when the logical, commercial and moral argument is so strong), it will more than likely ‘go underground.’?It often will take the form of passive aggressive, undermining tactics that are designed to make ‘the opposition’ lose confidence.?Rolling eyes, knowing glances, sardonic comments are all part of the armoury of this underground battle.

So how do we develop a less parental and more adult to adult approach to engaging all, particularly men, into the conversation? How do we create a safe space where fear and concerns could be discussed and where enthusiasm can be explored and harnessed?

We set about trying to develop an approach in our communication creating safe spaces for men to activate their own education in gender diversity, we provided a list of 10 things they could do if they wished to explore this topic and asked them to go with what worked for them.

We also explored how everyone can enter this conversation from their individual starting point.?Not everyone has to be an active inspirer.?We tried to make it ok to be a passive supporter, just noticing their own behaviour and disrupting some of the habitual patterns that sustain inequity, would be absolutely fine.?It’s even better if you can be an active inspirer but we don’t all have to lead the way.

I have sat on many a panel and observed countless more where we talk about the importance of men in gender equality, that’s another no-brainer.?But are we challenging ourselves to really help people enter into this space??Can we do more to create the environment where men can explore how it feels to be a man in an organisation that is seeking gender equality, I think we can and should.

We should continue to focus on Inclusion and supporting women to develop their sense of belonging in organisations and encourage men to get honest with their role and feelings in relation to gender equality at the same time…

By Jo Payne, Non-Executive Director at Famn & Chief People Officer at Clear Channel International

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