So last week we were talking about the mnemonic DREAMS and how following this can create the perfect work place. To remind you, DREAMS stands for:
Difference
Radical Honesty
Extra Value
Authenticity
Meaning
Simple Rules
Let’s talk about the first one, Difference. Our blog a few weeks ago on William and Kate’s appointment of Prince George’s God parents discussed the benefit of different minds for the same job. It’s well accepted that a variety of opinions is better than the same one repeated.
So why when it comes to gender are we so intent on becoming the same? While it is true that both sexes should be treated equally, we should not ignore that women and men are naturally different.
This is not to say that women should stay on the bottom rung while men lord over it at the top, but that we shouldn’t be so intent on urging women to become more masculine to succeed. Our differences should be valued and celebrated.
What made me think about this was the recent article in the Daily Mail online, alerted to me by Twitter, which claimed that the reason so few women are reaching the top levels is because women apologise too much in situations where men wouldn’t think to. They called this being a ‘sorry skirt.’
Apart from the horrifically sexist term, what annoyed me was the defining of apologising as a negative, feminine characteristic and blaming this for holding women back. Accountability is a valuable skill in any employee, male or female. This is just another example of finding a reason why women aren’t being promoted and trying to provide a quick fix.
So the main point is that there needs to be a balance. It is important to recognise and value everyone’s differences regardless of their gender. Not all women are ‘sorry skirts’ and the instinct to apologise for our mistakes is not a female characteristic. There needs to be less blame and quick fixes and more progress in creating equal opportunities for both sexes.
There are three women CEOs in the FTSE 100 at the moment and there is an aim to reach 25% of women on FTSE 100 boards by 2015. So instead of creating more problems with terms like ‘sorry skirts,’ let’s hope we see some real progress here!