Accelerate Action – Aligning action with values
For International Women’s Day last year, CEO Simone Rennie wrote an article about inspiring inclusion by empowering women to define their own authentic leadership styles. Through her experience, Simone has observed that emerging women leaders often feel pressure to adopt traditionally masculine qualities to be successful and has experienced first-hand some of the barriers and challenges that many women face. That experience has given her a perspective on what needs to change to empower our emerging female leaders.
First let’s put some facts out there:
At the current rate of progress, it will take until 2158 to reach full gender parity, roughly five generations from now (according to the World Economic Forum).
Women make up just 22% of CEOs and 37% of key management positions in Australia (according to 2023-24 figures from the Australian Government's Workplace Gender Equality Agency). [SR1]
In the ASX300 companies, only 9% of CEOs are women (according to the Australian Government’s Status of Women Report Card 2024[SR2] ).
These statistics highlight the ongoing challenges and systemic barriers that women face in ascending to leadership positions in Australia.
This is despite the fact that women possess unique qualities that they can leverage as powerful tools for effective leadership – empathy and emotional intelligence, for example, are traits that enable women to build strong relationships, navigate complex interpersonal dynamics, and inspire others to reach their full potential.
There is no question that diverse teams perform more strongly, and the data supports this – companies with greater diversity in executive teams and boards are more likely to outperform their peers (according to McKinsey’s Diversity Matters Even More 2023 report). Women are often naturally skilled at creating environments where voices are heard, valued, and respected. By fostering an inclusive culture, successful women leaders empower their teams to thrive, regardless of gender or background.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is Accelerate Action, and it comes at a critical time, especially given some recent shifts in DEI policies globally. It’s a timely reminder that change won’t happen without action, and action that is aligned to core values stands a better chance of making a real difference. It’s so important for business and society that we stay on course and remain committed to policies and programs that level the playing field for women.
For us at Rennie, our values of authenticity, excellence, resilience and one team drive our approach. In addition to our diversity and inclusion targets and initiatives, parental leave and flexible working arrangements, we’ve also identified authentic actions that we believe will make a difference – investment in our emerging leaders’ program, leadership development plans, on-the-job coaching, mentoring, structured networking opportunities, and sales and business development training – aimed at creating an environment where our emerging female leaders can reach their goals and achieve their potential.
Diversity in teams and leadership needs to be nurtured by organisations. What we can’t do is turn back the clock – with the right actions and investments, we can continue to address systemic barriers, enable our women to become successful leaders, and ultimately support better outcomes for organisations and society.
[SR1]Update on 4 March with latest stats
WGEA Data Explorer | National, Industry and Employer results