Women

I’ve come to cherish my LinkedIn and blog community for the intelligent debate that arises from my posts. Today, I’m asking this community and the network effect it posses for assistance.

In the coming weeks we will share exciting news about AirShr’s next step. However today’s post isn’t about news. It’s about asking for help with one issue in particular. It may be viewed as controversial in the minds of some.

I am husband to an extraordinary woman leader. I am father to two future women leaders. And I am a feminist because I believe deeply in establishing and achieving equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women.

At every step in my career, I have been immensely fortunate to work with women who are powerful thinkers and doers, who take creativity and industriousness to new levels and who ignite sparks within teams and cultures which go largely undiscovered by their male colleagues, myself included.

Today the heavily lifting to create the magic that is AirShr has been done by six people. This team of leaders is drawn from Australian, Israeli, Indian and Malaysian heritage. Each person is humble, empathetic and cherishes the opportunity to learn about each other’s capabilities, interests and cultures. We are all men and this is the issue.

I have been careful to avoid using ‘diversity’ in this post. I think it’s cliche. And my sense is that its overuse has eye-rolling effect to the extent that it may be doing more harm than good in rewarding the significant efforts being made by people, somehow labeled as ‘minority’ or ‘underrepresented’, in our communities and industries. I believe in people achieving their hopes and dreams through education and work experience. I care about people’s internal drive, their adaptability, resilience and compassion and the path they’re following to ultimately contribute to their society. This is in AirShr’s DNA. This philosophy doesn’t rely on achieving a pre-defined ‘diversity’ quota for an internal balance score card or annual report. This philosophy relies on welcoming people who are capable of joining a team to deliver the extraordinary while creating value and opportunities that bring them closer to achieving their hopes and dreams.

Each day the AirShr team delivers the extraordinary but there’s a missing ingredient. We lack gender balance. And without it we will achieve moderate success. But moderate is not the extraordinary. So I am asking you to help me understand how to make AirShr the next professional destination for women where they can do their life’s best work. I believe that if we can do this AirShr as a company, as a product, and as a place to work, will be richer, more fun, and ultimately more rewarding.

On 6 April at 9am Sydney time (the day before at 3pm San Francisco, 6pm New York, 11pm London) I am hosting a webinar to bring this thinking to life. If you or someone you know can contribute to this important idea please join the webinar, leave a comment below or reach out to me directly. You can save your webinar seat here.

This is essential to AirShr’s future and I’m excited at the prospect of you helping to shape it. Thanks for joining us.