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NOVEMBER FOCUS: LEADERSHIP | ISSUE 2 OF 3 | 11.23.20
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Good morning, Fearless readers and leaders! For this week’s main story, I turned it over to my fellow Emily B and editor, Emily Barske. She gathered submissions from four male leaders throughout the state
about how men can be allies to women in the workplace. Related to that, our survey section features answers from women about that very same topic. Have a great week!
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I’m working on an upcoming story about fathers taking advantage of paternity leave and/or quitting their jobs to become stay-at-home dads. Is this you, or do you know someone who would be willing to share their story? Please send me an email at emilyblobaum@bpcdm.com.
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How men can be allies to women in the workplace
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If you tuned in to our Fearless launch, you heard me say that women’s issues are everyone’s issues and we’ll be covering them as such. With this
month’s focus on leadership, it’s imperative that we discuss what men can do to be allies to women in the workplace. As Emily Blobaum reported last week, representation of women in executive-level leadership positions is far from equal. If we have any desire to change that, we need men in positions of power to step up with us in the fight for gender equity.
I reached out to Joe Murphy, executive director of the Iowa Business Council, to ask him to write about a policy or practice male business leaders should be focused on to empower women. I also asked a few IBC members, who are among the state’s largest employers, to share their thoughts about how men can be allies to women.
– Emily Barske, associate editor, Business Record
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| SUPPORTING WOMEN IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS
BY JOE MURPHY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, IOWA BUSINESS COUNCIL
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At the Iowa Business Council, our vision is to elevate Iowa’s long-term economic vitality to achieve prosperity for all Iowans. Supporting women in the workplace, and pursuing policy initiatives to advance this mindset, is just one way the IBC is making a difference. Simply put, supporting women is good for business.
One of our biggest initiatives on the policy front is increasing child care access and affordability. As most are aware, if a family does not have
access to child care services, it’s often the woman who decides to leave the workforce to care for a child.
This situation puts a strain on our economy and unfairly limits future leadership opportunities for women. The lack of child care options in Iowa, combined with rising costs within the industry, is not new and is getting worse. Consider the following examples:
- 75% of children
under the age of 6 have all parents working outside the home.
To achieve success, we must fully eliminate the cliff effect and increase the viability of affordable, quality child care options throughout Iowa. These policy pursuits will benefit working moms and families throughout our state and increase economic opportunities. Not only is supporting women good for business, our future depends on it.
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BUSINESS LEADERS AS ALLIES FOR EQUALITY
BY DAN HOUSTON CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL GROUP
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Adopt flexible workplace policies, where possible. Remote work, flexible scheduling, flexible time off and other benefits can promote work-life balance and prevent employees from exiting the workforce, especially in times of
economic volatility – which is important today, since 80% of the people who left the workforce in September were women (and especially Latina women), concentrated in industries and roles overwhelmingly held by women and minorities.
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CELEBRATING WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
BY TIM GLENN EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CCO, CORTEVA
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Embracing inclusion and equity is critical to business success. Studies have shown, for example, that gender-diverse teams have higher sales and profits compared with male-dominated teams. They have higher overall revenue, greater job satisfaction and overall more organizational dedication.
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PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESS
BY REYNOLDS CRAMER PRESIDENT AND CEO, FAREWAY STORES INC.
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In our business, women have the horsepower to ascend and flourish at every level. As an industry, and particularly as president and CEO of Fareway Stores Inc., I know it is crucial that we provide opportunities for women to demonstrate their leadership. I strive to give those opportunities, grow confidence and empower women at
Fareway to succeed. Success can mean many things: a higher role, more responsibility within the company, a higher title, a better work/life balance or something totally different. But the result of the success is the same – it provides a stronger workforce and stronger company. Companies who don’t understand this are being left behind.
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Left: Dolly Parton. Center: Kim Ng. Right: Rachel Junck, who is featured in the 2021 Women Impacting ISU calendar.
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What can men do to support women in the workforce?
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"Men can support women by providing them opportunities and experiences — especially those that stretch a comfort zone. The greatest development periods of my career were when people believed in me more than I believed in myself. I credit a male corporate executive who tapped me for a role that I would have NEVER pursued without his faith in me. His
belief in my skills and performance were so strong that it silenced my 'I can't’ voice for a period of time to give myself a chance to believe my, 'Well, look at that — I did!' voice. Put women in the game!" - Maria Volante, Dardis Communications
"Notice and publicly celebrate good work, especially in front of other men." - Katie Kreis, Wartburg College
"As a single parent, not schedule meetings before 8:30 a.m. It's stressful to get to them with school prep and drop-off. The same is true of a 4 p.m. meeting. Many days I'm carpooling to activities."
"Advocate for us and hold other men accountable. When we're speaking or presenting and we're interrupted by someone, speak up with consideration to the intent behind the interruption. If you can, bring it back around and allow us to finish our thought and ensure proper attention is called to the idea, thought or input." - Heather Gierut, KZIA
"Become an advocate, not a roadblock. If men are constantly throwing darts at you and your willingness to advance, it means
they are scared of change. They need to be able to recognize when they are doing this."
"Although it may be difficult, approaching women and men with an unbiased attitude in the workplace — that is, not making assumptions about either women or men when dealing with professional decisions, work assignments, leadership, etc. What becomes a challenge is when men "assume" women don't want to advance or lead, or that women want to take minutes or get the coffee. These biases are subliminal ways to undermine the role of women." - Terry Hernandez, Chrysalis Foundation
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Our next question is this: How long will it take for women to achieve parity in leadership positions? Submit your response here.
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