Leadership and Closing the Gender Gap #50 #cong21

Synopsis:

The future of leadership is gender equality. When women are at the decision making table better, more holistic, risk averse decisions are made that are good for everyone.

Total Words

979

Reading Time in Minutes

4

Key Takeaways:

  1. We need gender quota legalisation not voluntary targets.
  2. We must to close the gender pay gap.
  3. More Flexible and Remote work grows gender equality.
  4. Women’s Sport is driving a change in societal norms.

About Barry Mac Devitt

Barry has spent most of his career in marketing working for a number of multinationals across the food and telco sectors. He has also worked on the agency side too, so he knows the other side of the fence as well.

More recently though he was CEO of DesignTwentyFirst Century a not-for-profit that was one Ireland’s pioneers in promoting design thinking as an approach to advancing solutions, engendering change and unlocking new ways of learning in people. Some of this work was featured by Jeanne Liedtka, one of the worlds leading authorities on design thinking, in her bestselling book ‘Solving Problems with Design Thinking’.

He is now an independent consultant who wants a more gender balanced future for his three daughters.

Contacting Barry Mac Devitt

You can connect with Barry on LinkedIn.

By Barry Mac Devitt

Men and women have long had unequal access to leadership and positions of authority in Irish society and in the workplace. Despite significant gains over the past 40 years, this inequality still persists today.

Women are still significantly under-represented in senior decision-making positions in Ireland’s public and private sectors, in politics and on state and non-state boards. Women comprised just 22% in 2020 of Irish listed corporate boards, while incredibly 19% of listed companies had no female directors at all. The situation is somewhat better on state boards which now comprise 41.5% female directors but its taken over 25 years to get to this.

The latest CSO also continues to highlight the gender pay gap, which stands at 14.4% which means that across the workforce, women earn – on average – 14.4% less than men for every hour they work.

This still exists despite the vast majority of people in Ireland, over 75% according to latest research by WorkEqual, believing that this needs to change urgently and be driven by government.

The wider benefit that gender equality brings not just in business but in society as a whole I hope should be undisputed at this stage. Research consistently shows that diverse teams outperform non-diverse teams and that having women at C-suite level doesn’t just make businesses more profitable but its better for employee welfare, work life balance and the organisations wider impact in society.

In the current pandemic you just have to look at the countries where women are heads of state to see shining examples of effective leadership. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Germany and Slovakia have been internationally recognised for the effectiveness of their response. These women leaders were proactive in managing the virus, implementing social distancing restrictions early, seeking expert advice to inform health strategies and unifying the country around a comprehensive response with transparent and compassionate communication.

Put simply when women are at the decision making table better, more holistic, risk averse decision are made that are good for everyone. Had we had more women on the boards of the banks leading up to the 2008 financial crash one wonders if it ever would have happened.

So I think the future of good leadership starts with speeding up gender equality.

I don’t claim to have all the solutions here and there certainly isn’t one silver bullet but here are five things to speed up the change:

1) Bring in gender quota legalisation to force private companies to have at least 40% gender balance on their boards. Positive laws imposing gender quotas, rather than voluntary targets, generate the most significant improvements in gender balance in the workforce. This has been demonstrated in the countries where legalisation has recently come into force – France, Holland, Italy, Greece, Belgium and Germany. This was also a key recommendation by our Citizen Assembly on Gender Equality. When women are in leadership positions that shape business policy there is a trickle down effect that benefits not just other women but everyone.

2) Close the Gender Pay Gap. Legislation compelling employers in Ireland to disclose their gender pay gaps was enacted in 2021. This legislation needs to be enforced over the coming months and years not just in compliance but also by incentivising employers to make meaningful progress in tackling the issue i.e. by being required to submit an action plan to close their gender pay gaps at the same time as making their disclosure.

3) More flexible and remote working. If there has been any silver lining as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic its been in that we can have more flexible work options including remote working and still be productive. More employers now have realised the benefits of these work options for both women and men.

4) Leadership Team balance – ladders to the board. Quotas don’t apply to leadership teams but this where future female talent has to be nurtured otherwise backsliding occurs. Support, training and mentorship are all required to constantly grow this pipeline.

5) Changing societal norms. As a father of three girls I’m super conscious of the gender stereotyping thats exists all around us and from an incredibly early age. But I’m encouraged when I see the groundswell of change happening particularly in things like sport. Women’s participation and success in sports like soccer, GAA, hockey, golf, sailing, boxing and recent media campaigns like 20×20 ‘if she cant see it, she can’t be it’ are all really encouraging signs of a positive shift that is happening.

The future of good leadership is gender equality, let’s make it happen.

Society Needs Liveable Cities #59 #cong20

Synopsis:

Covid-19 has forced us to change how we live, work and operate as a society. Now our cities must change with us to become better places to live in and pass on to our children.

Total Words

767

Reading Time in Minutes

3

Key Takeaways:

  1. Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody when they are created by everybody.
  2. For decades we have allowed the wrong things take priority – retail space, offices blocks and attracting tourists over building communities.
  3. Now is the time to push for fundamental change in how we design our cities, changes beyond the current ‘temporary’ realignment of our streets.
  4. Proper engagement and collaboration between business, residents and local authorities is key.

About Barry Mac Devitt:

 Barry has spent most of his career in marketing working for a number of multinationals across the food and telco sectors. He has also worked on the agency side too, so he knows the other side of the fence as well.

More recently though he was CEO of DesignTwentyFirst Century a not-for-profit that was one Ireland’s pioneers in promoting design thinking as an approach to advancing solutions, engendering change and unlocking new ways of learning in people. Some of this work was featured by Jeanne Liedtka, one of the worlds leading authorities on design thinking, in her bestselling book ‘Solving Problems with Design Thinking’.

He is now an independent consultant who wants places that we are happy to live in and pass on to our children.

Contacting Barry Mac Devitt:

You can connect with Barry on LinkedIn

By Barry Mac Devitt

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Jane Jacobs

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended basic assumptions that have long anchored just about every facet of our lives, from home and family to work and politics to our towns and cities.

It is a crisis that first and foremost has threatened our very being and so for many of us it has made us really reflect on how we live, where we live and what’s important to have around us – community, outdoor space, local shops, access to nature, areas for safe socialising and play…

These are not things that trip off the tongue easily when you think of an Irish city.

For decades we’ve prioritised retail space, offices blocks and the fleeting tourist over well planned mixed-income family-friendly residential neighbourhoods for our cities. Living in the suburbs and commuting to work is the model we have always accepted…until now.

When you look at cities like Amsterdam, Stockholm, Milan, Barcelona who have all had their COVID challenges they are bouncing back because they are busy with locals shopping, dining, moving about, sitting in parks and going about their business. In fact many of these cities are becoming more liveable not less because of COVID. This is in stark contrast to here, especially Dublin city which is on its knees because it has been completely hollowed out.

So now is the time to push for a fundamental change in the way Irish cities are designed beyond the ‘temporary’ realignment of our streets currently being forceded through under COVID by our local authorities. People want properly planned, multifunctional places that provide what they need near where they live.

But key to this success will be through real engagement and collaboration between business, residents and local authorities. As far back as 2012 the governments Putting People First policy recognised that ‘participation of citizens in public life and their right to influence decisions that affect their lives and communities is ‘at the centre of democracy’ (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG), 2012, p.157). So engaging citizens to bring greater ownership of, and participation in, local decision-making is fundamental to making our cities work for us all.

The recent proposal from Dublin Chamber to have planning decisions based on a ’15 minute City’ model is a positive and creative move. Pilot programmes like this are needed in local authorities, but real transformational change will only come with a whole city and holistic visionary approach that includes greater citizen participation, especially considering our climate and biodiversity crisis.

Covid-19 has forced us to change how we work and operate as a society and economy. Now our cities must change with us to become better places that we are happy to live in and pass on to our children, cities that are liveable, thriving and resilient against future shocks. Cities that are for all of society.