05/13/2021

How Men Can Be More Inclusive Leaders

Male leaders must pursue gender inclusion and equity

Note to men: Your father’s approach to leadership won’t work for you. In fact, it’s a recipe for failure. With the global pandemic, searing evidence of social injustice, the rise of employee activism, and the changing role of the corporation (success is no longer just about shareholder value), we are witnessing a fundamental shift in the workplace.

For decades, effective leadership has been defined by top-down, hierarchical approaches to driving business outcomes. Twentieth-century leaders often embraced authoritarian leadership approaches. But the workplace is changing — from the nature of work and how we accomplish it to the people doing the work itself. Profit-driven organizations focused on “what” and productivity are evolving into purpose-driven cultures focused on “why” and their people.

This is partly due to the talent pool itself. Twentieth-century employees were homogenous, predominantly male, and primarily consisted of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, but today the talent pool is increasingly diverse, dominated by Millennials and rising Gen Zers. As of 2017, Millennials were more likely to be employed and work full-time than any other generation. Their preference for collaboration, transparency, healthy work-life integration, celebration of diversity and inclusion and purpose-driven employment demands a new kind of leadership.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Harvard Business Review.