A Message to the Male C-Suite
So I just read a stat from LeanIn.org that said based on the current rate of progress, it will take 48 years for all women to reach parity in corporate America.
48 Years.
Now, if you identify as a man & you’re reading this, you may say, “Oh, what a shame.”
If you’re a woman, however, it’s just one more stat to pile on the mountain of stats to scream at the hilltops a la Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music, “what in the AF is it going to take for us to make big strides?”
I don’t want to further depress the women readers here, but I’m a woman who has spent 25 years in trades – and that needle has barely budged. Instead of 48 years, in the true trades of Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing/HVAC/Carpentry, that stat is more like 200 years. There are only 10% in the industries who identify as women. Welding, where I sit in advocacy currently? It’s 350 years (only 5% women in welding).
This isn’t an article about stats – honestly, if you’ve ever heard the term, “social math,” you understand that it’s storytelling over statistics. I could give you 100 stories of women rising above the ashes, hearing all the paradigms & breaking all the ceilings – but it’s 2024, almost 2025. Our stories are still going primarily unheard, & that isn’t helping (and I’m not saying they shouldn’t be told).
I’m here for the men. Specifically, the men in leadership (read: power) who said, “Oh, what a shame” at the beginning of this article. I want you to ask yourself, “So what, now what?”
YOU are the biggest changemaker in the room (believe it or not). We’ve masqueraded that we should somehow emasculate you, which would threaten anyone quite frankly. I’m not here to take your power, your seat, your money or your prestige at your company.
I’m here to help you recognize your place in this ecosystem of potential change.
You’re a c-suite exec. Or even a CEO. No one sits you in a boardroom for you to say, “I don’t know how to navigate this.” It’s the opposite, right? You’re hired, or you’re tenured, based on your ability to solve problems & put out the fires. It’s what earns your keep.
So saying, “I don’t know what to do here,” is a really foreign thing. But we need you to do this for us.
Women can’t gain seats in the room without you, when it would take 48-350 years for them to gain parity. They don’t have the power. You have to be compelled to want the diversity in thought, gender & lived experience at your company and on your team.
This isn’t the job of HR, DE&I or your Social Responsibility teams – if you’re lucky enough to have that much representation at your firm. This is sleeve-rolling time on getting real about what you don’t know, and honestly what makes you vulnerable.
Vulnerability, authenticity & seeing/hearing others’ POV/lens is what will catapult you into true allyship & advocacy for women. When it becomes about the “why” you need the room, you want to change the room…and less about what you lose or what you don’t know.
Your takeaway here? Get gritty. No one is blaming you for having 5%, 10% or even 0% women on your staff or in your company. Start with that – it isn’t your fault. But it is your responsibility to start asking questions, holding focus groups & continued leadership development culture on how we can faster move the needle.
You’ve got this. I believe – because you’re the lynch pin in this cog for change for ALL of us to rise.
About the Author: About the author: Demi Clark is the founder of Spark Building Group. With 25 years of experience disrupting the construction industry: from throwing a hammer to founding a nonprofit to TedX’ing, she’s committed to helping other women become tradepreneurs in tradetech.