a quick ramble from the founder…
It’s hard to know where to begin. When a lifetime of professional frustration spills onto the pages of a book/website/podcast etc… it is difficult to organize the thoughts into something more than a long- winded, multiplatform rant. Sure it feels better to get it out of our head and “onto paper” but we still have to wake up on Monday morning, put on our big-girl business pants/skirts, and head into the office to deal with same bullshit that we have had to deal with for the last forever.
After millennium of functioning economies, “old white guy culture” has not relinquished its tenacious grip on our professional lives and it remains, to this day, the norm, the status quo, the seemingly immovable mountain. The tenure of old white guy culture is not due to the fact that it is working brilliantly. Spoiler alert: not only does old white guy culture generally suck, but extensive research shows it does not lead to optimally functioning workplaces. I know, I know. Duh.
So what gives? Why do we have to get up, pour ourselves a cup of ambition, and waltz into a workplace that fosters the same misogyny, micro-aggressions, incivilities, and biases that have plagued us for decades? Rather, for centuries? Worse. Why do we have to watch the next generations, our daughters, or in some cases our granddaughters, face the same lunacy?
The short answer is that the solutions being purveyed to “cure” corporate culture are not solutions that change the underlying problem. Most of the proposed tools of change are focused on changing us, not on changing old white guys themselves or the workplaces they have built. Sure we can learn to “lean in.” But what are we leaning into exactly? Are we leaning into a room filled with different thoughts, ideas, and solutions coming from people of diverse backgrounds and experiences? Are we leaning into a welcoming room that is inspiring and rewarding? A room that is filled with integrity and honesty? A room that is tough but fair? A room where hard work in the board room is rewarded more than funny jokes on the golf course? Are we leaning into a place where a great idea that delivers results is heard regardless of whether we put on make-up on that particular day, or the color of our skin is white, or our voice is sufficiently baritone, or the idea is delivered with a smile? Sure, there are nascent efforts to change workplace culture. There are trainings (generally speaking they don’t work). There are grievance mechanisms (generally speaking they don’t work). There are lots and lots and lots (and lots) of leadership books (generally speaking… well, you get it). To summarize, the bulk of the work, the change, the focus, the blame has been placed…misplaced…on our shoulders for far too long and most efforts to drive change beyond changing us have been ill conceived, hastily applied, and often laughably ineffective.
Despite centuries of setbacks, there is every reason to be hopeful that change is not only possible but probable and that change is, in fact, imminent. Why such optimism in the face of rather continuous and pervasive defeat? Well, it is a whole new world complete with new tools, old tools used in new ways, and new generations at the table who have brought with them better values and less patience. While there are still not enough women in leadership, there are enough women in leadership who have started talking to each other, listening to each other, and validating each other’s experiences. That networking, that sisterhood if you will, has enabled the collective outrage to aggregate into a ball of fury that is increasingly unpredictable and scary AF to old white guys in charge. Ultimately, we know, we profoundly understand, that unacceptable words and actions should not be – can no longer be – tolerated much less accepted.
There is a lot to unpack. There are a lot of solutions to explore (yellow card chief among them). There are actions to take. So let’s dive in. Let’s honestly and authentically assess the present state of play and let’s redefine the fuck out of the future.