02
The WE 4.0 Framework
I think about global efforts to achieve gender equality as having gone through three stages of providing rights for women: These hard-won rights were the required stepping stones to get women where we are today. Notwithstanding notable and glaring exceptions in some countries, women, overall, have made significant strides in education, health, voting and property rights, equal pay, the workplace, and more. But now, the march to gender equality is stalled, especially in terms of economic participation. Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum, sees that the world is on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution. He describes this period as a “Technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society.”5 This integrated approach to development in the fourth industrial revolution will also require men and women to relate differently to each other. From my perspective, successfully operating in the fourth industrial revolution necessitates that we also achieve the fourth and final stage of the gender movement: gender equality. Fully utilizing the talents and leadership of women is part of the next frontier of global economic prosperity. WE 4.0 is for all of us: women and men, working equally, sharing leadership and succeeding together. No longer can women carry the flag or bear the sole responsibility for leading the charge to gender equality. What businesses need now is men and women leading equally and working side by side to drive innovation, opportunity, and prosperity. WE 4.0 is your hands-on guide to improve the way men and women lead and succeed together. Women and men must be equal partners in managing the challenges our world faces – and in reaping the opportunities. Both voices are critical in ensuring the Fourth Industrial Revolution delivers its promise for society.6 —Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum How good would it feel to be able to leverage an underutilized strategy to drive your own results and career? How good would you feel to know that both men and women were being treated equally in your workplace? How good would it feel not to be blamed for the inequitable treatment of women? How good would it feel to know that your wife or girlfriend or daughter had the same opportunities as her male colleagues? How wonderful would it be if your business took off because you had a more diverse team that was better at solving problems, understanding customers, and identifying opportunities? How good would it feel to know that you personally contributed to the achievement of gender parity globally? These are the types of outcomes I had in mind when I wrote this book to guide a new way for men and women to work together. Like many, my vision is of true egalitarianism at work. A day when people in every workplace have the opportunity to leverage their strengths, achieve their full potential, and share leadership. The origins of the WE 4.0 framework are inspired by and built on my more than two decades of experience coaching and developing businessmen and businesswomen, observing what works and what does not; on listening deeply to what women all over the world regularly tell me they want or don’t want from their managers and colleagues at work; and on the research and findings of many other leading experts and institutions, especially Dr. Elisabeth Kelan, PhD, a Professor of Leadership at Cranfield School of Management and Director of the Cranfield International Centre for Women Leaders7; McKinsey & Company; Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, the CEO of 20-first, a leading gender consultancy, and an authority on leadership, gender, and business; and Catalyst, the global nonprofit renowned for its research and thought leadership in building inclusive workplaces that work for women. My goal was to distill research and experience into actions that you can take as you go about normal work. The framework contains four categories of intentional individual behavior to enable you to maximize your own success and business results by proactively working more effectively with women and by recruiting, retaining, and advancing more women into leadership. Remember, WE 4.0 is about your behavior. You don’t have to wait for your organization or anyone else to implement a program or change anything before you can take these actions. You merely have to decide to do so. But these behaviors are not one-time actions. To affect change, you’ll need to make these behaviors habitual and consistently interact with women in these ways. I recognize that transformational change is hard and that no one can make you change if you don’t truly want to or see the need for it. Change is especially hard when the status quo, our current environment, appears to be working positively for us. But, while it may seem that the current environment is working for you, it’s actually not. Inequality is bad for business; it’s bad for everyone, and it’s not sustainable. We are all missing out on so many opportunities. Take a few minutes to think about why you might want to take the actions described in this book. Are your goals oriented around your own advancement, your company’s long-term success, understanding the needs of your customers, reflecting your customer base, fairness, your community, equality, and/or your family? You’ll have to figure out what motivates and drives you so you can start to: Dr. Elisabeth Kelan describes an outcome of implementing these types of behaviors as undoing gender.8 As you read along, you’ll see how using WE 4.0 behaviors has helped many different types of people. Our larger motivations and rationales for wanting to have a more equal work environment for everyone are complex, interrelated, and will require commitment from all of us. On a simpler, more individual level, if one of your motivations is achieving results and getting ahead in your career or business, you’ll need to think strategically. In fact, the ability to think strategically is a prerequisite skill for either entrepreneurial success or advancement in a corporate setting. Figure 2.1 shows levels of decision making in the organization. Figure 2.1 Decision Pyramid One of the most important actions of successful executives or entrepreneurs in building a high-growth company is the ability to make strategic decisions. A manager who doesn’t think strategically about ways to recruit, retain, and advance talent won’t be able to make the best business decisions, let alone secure his own success. WE 4.0 actions are designed to help you think strategically about the talents of women, about building a diverse, high- performing team, and to set yourself up for career and business growth. It’s time to think and act differently. As you know, adopting new behaviors is not easy. Consistently using them – making them habits – is even harder. When I want to adopt new behaviors, I start by figuring out what I should first stop doing to make room for what I want to start doing. So, let’s begin to ELIMINATE. What’s the business case for keeping the status quo? Inequality is bad for business, and it’s bad for everyone.
WE 4.0
The WE 4.0 Framework
How WE 4.0 Helps You
Notes