Six Ideas for a Better Balance this International Women’s Day

Today, as you would know, is International Women’s Day (IWD). What is IWD? Well, let’s start with what it is not. Firstly, it is not a rerun of Valentine’s Day, so please stop with the roses already! It is also not a day to celebrate some stereotypical and outdated notions of “womanhood” so kindly spare us the assorted forwards about the silent beauty and fortitude of mothers, daughters, sisters and wives.

Instead, International Women’s Day is, or should be, a trigger to pause and take stock of the more consequential matter of gender balance in various aspects of our lives. Let’s use this trigger to reflect on the question: where are things today on gender representation and participation? And, more importantly, how can we, as individuals, families and corporate personnel move the needle?

I absolutely love this year’s theme of IWD — “BalanceforBetter”. Balance is such a beautiful word. In fact, it can be a fantastic life philosophy because, if you think about it, most things are better when they are balanced. Food, for example — there’s just nothing to beat a balanced diet which has the right mix of carbs and proteins and vitamins and other essential nutrients. The planet is better off with a balanced ecosystem — any imbalance leads to ecological nightmares, some of which we are seeing already.

And so it is with gender mix. We know for a fact today that our gender mix is not well balanced at macro and micro levels, from things like pay parity to household chores and even to things like the share of voice in movies. The good news is that we have reached a point, thanks to movements like #MeToo, #HeForShe and others, where the awareness of this imbalance is high and has become a topic of general discussion. We have even made significant progress on a societal inclination to fix this imbalance.

The next question becomes: what can we do about it? What action can we take … starting today?! Action, not discussion, will be the solution. So here are some action-oriented ideas:

1. Menfolk, get into your kitchens. If we agree that we want more women in boardrooms and CXO circles (or even just to cope with the pressures of work and family), you simply have to create time in their days. So, instead of taking your wife to dinner today, cook her and your family a meal. And perhaps commit to learning a new recipe a month while you are at it?
2. Managers, look closely at your team. Chances are, your team members are an awful lot like you. Commit to deliberately diversifying your team over the next 12, 18 and 24 months. For every new hire, insist on a diverse pool of candidates and spend some time researching techniques (plenty available online) to avoid bias so you can make objective decisions.
3. Ladies, speak up. Don’t wait for someone to ask you to share your ideas in meetings or social gatherings. Do that proactively — perhaps start with a modest target of making one point heard per meeting. Use this “amplification” strategy to make other voices heard.
4. Charity begins at home and so does a learning of balance and shared responsibilities. And this is where both men and women are culprits because one waits for the other to tell them what needs to be done and the other doesn’t do so because the thing that needs to be done won’t be done as perfectly as they want it to be done. Let’s stop that already. Create checklists jointly, distribute accountability and then leave the execution to the delegated party. Let your kids see you go through that process and understand how both parties need to pull their weight equally in domestic matters.
5. Men, speak up! Don’t let the so-called “locker room talk” go unchallenged. It is not OK and you know it’s not OK — so now, it’s a matter of actively calling out the ones who think they can get away with objectifying women. Be an active voice, not a passive supporter.
6. Ladies, ask for help. Don’t accept status quo because things don’t have to be the way they’ve always been. You may not get what you ask for, but you’ll never know if you don’t try. I honestly think there are many many supporters and influencers out there who truly want to a part of the solution and would welcome an opportunity to make a difference. You are not alone.

Some of these ideas may be slightly tougher to implement than the others – but committing to even one of the six could, over time, make a huge difference. So, go ahead and choose one – or come up with one of your own. It doesn’t really matter, so long as you take an action. Now.

A final point about action and balance. Striking a beautiful yoga pose, even a simple one such as the tree pose, requires balance. And balance, in turn, is achieved through strength, focus and resolve. You have to commit to it. Indeed, you never “have” a perfect yoga pose. You “hold” a perfect yoga pose making it an active endeavor not a passive achievement. It may look effortless, but there’s a lot of fine and continuous adjustments happening at all times, no matter the proficiency level.

And that’s how it’s going to be when it comes to changing the deep-rooted biases handed down to us over generations. It’s going to take practice and continuous adjustments — but, first, it’s going to need the power of our action. So, let’s begin today.