Men Advise Men on How to Create Gender Parity
The companies that have joined the Paradigm for Parity® coalition understand that men play an important role in getting more women in leadership positions. During Women’s History Month, several male leaders from Paradigm for Parity® coalition member companies offer some advice on how men can empower women with opportunities to advance that will help pave the way for parity in the workforce.
Executives from Cargill offered advice to men looking to level the playing field and the need to eliminate unconscious bias:
“Surround yourself with diverse talent, the best teams of talent are made up of both men and women. As your career progresses, be sure to find and sponsor the best women you encounter in your workplace…everything will be better as a result of that practice!” — David MacLennan, Chairman and CEO
“Never underestimate women’s potential for leadership success. Empower women to lead, just as you do men. Listen to and learn from women. Take ownership of creating and maintaining a workplace environment where you would be proud for your daughter or granddaughter to work someday.” — Todd Hall, Executive Vice President
“Be courageous and willing to look at the workplace from women’s unique perspectives from time-to-time. Be honest in assessing where there is inherent unfairness based on gender, and do all that you can to create a corporate culture that challenges unconscious gender bias. Always remember that your words and behaviors influence corporate culture. So, encourage equality in words and deeds.” — GJ van den Akker, Senior Vice President
An executive from Linkage shares advice on how to treat men and women equally:
“I read an article a while back that said that when men mentor women, they advise them to build their networks and get to know other executives. When men mentor other men, they advise them to focus strategy and growth in earnings as a path to success. So, my advice is: treat men and women equally; be aware of any unconscious biases you may have, and be deliberate in giving consistent guidance and direction to all those you lead, both women and men.” — Mark Hannum, the SVP of Research and Development
Executives at The Hershey Company talk about the importance of professional development and why their company is prioritizing gender parity:
“I’m honored to work alongside powerful women leaders at Hershey where our diverse perspectives and skills are driving our business to new heights. As the leader of our U.S. commercial business, I believe professional development fuels business development with diversity as a cornerstone of our competitive advantage.” — Todd Tillemans, President, U.S. of The Hershey Company
“As a proud member of Hershey’s Women’s Business Resource Group, I know gender diversity provides us an advantage in delivering peer leading growth and performance. The Hershey Company supports Paradigm for Parity® and is paving the way with industry leading gender representation at the highest levels with five women on our Board, and four women in c-suite executive roles, including our CEO, CFO, General Counsel and Chief Growth Officer.” — Kevin Walling, the SVP and Chief Human Resource Officer
Executives at Newmont Mining Corporation explain the benefit of having diverse teams and giving employees opportunities to shine:
“Focus on building the strongest collective talent on your team with complimentary and diverse experiences, skills and backgrounds. You will find over and over again that the strongest teams also have the most diverse, complementary and balanced composition.” — Randy Engel, Executive Vice President of Strategic Development of Newmont Mining Corporation
“Someone took a chance on me before I thought I was ready….do the same.” — Gary Goldberg, President and CEO of Newmont Mining
“In my experience, I have learned that successful sponsorship begins with being a visible champion, ensuring the organization’s talent management systems are gender inclusive and using my positional authority to ensure we take chances on female talent and accelerate their development.” — Tom Palmer, Executive Vice President and COO of Newmont Mining
“As the Executive Sponsor of Newmont’s Women & Allies Business Resource Group, I am proud of the accomplishments of this group. In particular their visible focus on creating a more inclusive environment across Newmont, collaboration with other BRG’s and the successful recruitment of a growing number of male allies.” — Scott Lawson, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
About the Paradigm for Parity® Movement
The Paradigm for Parity® coalition is composed of CEOs, senior executives, founders, board members and business academics who are committed to achieving a new norm in corporate leadership: one in which women and men have equal power, status, and opportunity.
The coalition created the Paradigm for Parity® 5-Point Action Plan for corporations to accelerate the pace of gender equity in senior executive roles. This unique agenda defines bold and specific actions that, taken together and simultaneously implemented as a package, will catalyze change and enable today’s business executives to secure the best leaders of tomorrow. Visit www.paradigm4parity.com or follow us on Twitter using @p4parity to learn more about this exciting initiative.
Read more about the Paradigm for Parity 5-Point Action Plan:
