It's over a hundred years since suffragette Emmeline
Pankhurst went on hunger strike in a bid to win women the right to
vote. A lot has changed in that time, but Mindy Gibbins-Klein,
founder & CEO of The Book Midwife and co-founder CEO of Ecademy
Press, believes we still have some way to go. Here's why
Gibbins-Klein believes that more women need to style themselves as
thought leaders - and how getting ideas out to a wider audience
through blogs, books and articles can help women to close the
gender divide.
When it comes to standing up and being noticed, it's a well
known fact that women face a greater challenge than men. Recent
reports have suggested that it may take up to 60 years for women to
have equal presence in top positions. Even though there are some
excellent female thought leaders out there, it seems that there is
still not as many compared to the number of men. So there is no
time to lose for more women to be bold, opinionated thought
leaders, just like their male counterparts.
Thought leaders, or people who are known amongst others for
their innovative ways of thinking and their individual ways of
promoting those thoughts, are more important today than ever, but
it is usually a role taken up by men. In this day and age, where
women are open to equal opportunities to men, I am becoming
increasingly aware that there is a gender balance happening, which
is evident in the growing number of women coming into politics. But
there is still some way to go.
Consider Richard Branson, Theo Paphitis, Anita Roddick, James
Caan, Simon Woodruffe, James Dyson… All of these people are serious
business leaders who are undisputed experts or thought leaders
in their fields and have written books of the subject. But, if they
are not vocal and opinionated, regularly interviewed or quoted in
the press, even those people are at risk of being forgotten in this
unforgiving and competitive market.
But even on this list, there are still not many women. We still
live in a very male dominated society even though there are plenty
of women with real skills and determination to make it to the
top.
Something which further shocked me was the news last year that
one of the UK's top institutions, the very highly esteemed Oxford
University, made an announcement that 2010 marked the 90 year
anniversary since they first allowed women to study there. 90 years
is a long time, and young women make up a good percentage of the
current student population, as they do at most UK universities. So,
why the gap between women being given equal opportunities and real
life examples of women leading the way?
It has a lot to do with cultural factors. Women are
brought up not to boast about themselves and to play down their
strengths. This does not serve them well when competing in a
business environment, especially with outspoken men who, at times,
play up their strengths.
When you write and publish your own articles, books and blogs,
you put a stake in the ground, showing your market where you stand
on important issues. This can seem very scary, but what you
are actually doing is helping them put a face to the name of your
company and its services, and as we all know, people buy
people. Most importantly, you show your customers that you
have thought through key topics and can articulate your leadership
on these topics in a way that can influence and guide people to a
better level of understanding.
Without this communication, people don't know what value you
provide, and they only hear from bolder people who are willing to
shout about their ideas. When women write and publish good
books and articles, they show that they are the real
thought leaders in this space - and not the other guy - or
woman.
I would in fact go as far to say that as long as women continue
to write their ideas down they will start to be remembered more
frequently. By writing about their ideas and expressing their
thought leadership values, people are more likely to remember the
message.
Men will begin to face fiercer competition, as women begin to
fight their way to the top. Women still have their work cut out
though, as they've got a lot of ground to cover to get up to the
same representation as men and they'll have to work twice as hard
to prove they are up to the jobs. But it certainly won't be easy
for those men currently holding the top positions!
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