Are women in leadership programmes *really* necessary?

I've spoken to several D&I Directors and HRDs lately about gender diversity and equality. And while everyone seems to agree that it's important, there's still some question marks around whether giving women their 'own' development programme is necessary. There's a concern that they might be seen as 'excluding' men, or that they might be perceived as women being singled out or ‘needing fixing'.

And these things couldn't be further from the truth.

I've run tons of leadership programmes for mixed-sex groups. I've had over a thousand women go through my signature, Face Forward women in leadership programme. AND I've also run Face Forward for almost 500 men! Yes, just men…because after seeing the transformation of all the women who had been through Face Forward, the company decided to roll a version of it out for the men.

And, after running leadership programmes all three ways, I can say with absolute conviction, confidence, and clarity that women in leadership programmes are completely necessary.

This is why:

1. Gender equality isn't JUST about how many women there are on the leadership board. It's not only about having 50 / 50 representation. And it's not just about making sure there's equal pay (although these things are, of course, important). It's about women feeling heard, safe, supported, appreciated and valued AS women.

So, if you have as many women as men at the table, but they still feel like they have to work twice as hard to be there; need to be twice as loud to be heard; and feel twice as stressed out about their work-life balance than their male counterparts do (hint: they do) - well then, something isn't working now, is it?

2. There's a LOT of things that need to change within an organisation to create environments where women can fully thrive. There are policies that need reviewing, procedures that need updating and biases that need changing. Honestly, doing it all is going to take a LONG time. And it's going to cost a LOT of money. And it's going to require a LOT of buy-in from all kinds of people (especially the old white dudes at the top – who, frankly, often don't really see the problem).

So, while that's all happening, doesn't it make sense to empower women to do what they can do themselves? To make the situation better for themselves? Doesn't it make sense to equip women with the tools, techniques and the confidence to speak up and advocate for themselves?

3. When women show up at their best, your business gets better*. BUT there's so much cultural, environmental and biological shit women experience, it can make it hard for them to show up at their best. It's not that women are 'broken' and need fixing. It's that they've often had the light knocked out of them. Whether it's from YEARS of 'be a good girl' conditioning; hormones from perimenopause/menopause messing with their mojo; dealing with the confidence knock of returning from maternity leave; or the decades of 'this is what a woman should look like/sound like/be like' messaging…it wears one down.

However, in my experience…when women get together and can talk about issues which are so specific, personal, and yet common…and when women are given a safe and private space to support each other…magic happens. I’ve seen it. This dialogue and honesty simply cannot be replicated in mixed-sex sessions.

4. I believe in an 'EQUAL, NOT THE SAME' approach to gender diversity. Women need to be taken seriously BECAUSE they're women. Not despite it. They should be able to step up, stand out and shine – as women. But businesses have historically been (and continue to be) set up in a very masculine way…and while we ALL have both masculine and feminine energy within us, it's women who have to force themselves to adapt to very masculine environments.

If women don't get their OWN programme where they can learn to lead AS women – and instead, simply learn to be even more like men (as happens in traditional leadership programmes btw), you don't change anything…and you certainly don't land up with equality OR diversity.

If YOU want gender diversity to be MORE than a tick box exercise that consists of some poorly funded internal networking events and a few revised P&Ps…then you've got to put your money where your mouth is and invest in what will REALLY create long term change.

A woman in leadership programme (yes, like my signature Face Forward programme) is about giving women the tools they need to truly thrive in the workplace. It's about communicating to them that you WANT to hear from them, see them and support them as women.

It's about empowering them to take their success, happiness, and well-being into their own hands.

And it makes good business sense*.

I'm curious, have you actually conducted an employee survey in your business and asked questions like...

“How confident are you in speaking up? How often do you feel interrupted/spoken over??Do you feel like you're taken as seriously as all of your peers? How do you feel about your work/life balance?”

…and have you compared the results of male vs. female respondents?

If you don't see a difference in male vs female respondents, then hats off to you!

But if you do...

Let’s talk.

* Of course, I’m sure you've seen all the stats about how important (and profitable) it is to have more diversity within businesses. But if you need to jog your memory, go here, here or here.