Have you checked your boardroom and hallways lately? What do you see on the walls?
Among the many interventions Iris Bohnet, Academic Dean of Harvard Kennedy School, proposes in order to achieve gender equality, one that you could implement pretty quickly is reviewing the photos hanging around your company. If after a quick inspection, you discover the portraits are mostly of past male CEOs, rethink your decor. It’s a simple idea that can work wonders. Why?
Well, as Dr. Bohnet points out in her book, What Works: Gender Equality by Design, for women who work in organizations where there are only pictures of men around, it’s easy to internalize the message, “The top job is obviously not for women. Even if I get it, I will probably end up feeling like I don’t belong.” And for men who work in that same organization, it would be easy to confirm their unconscious bias, “This is a man’s job. As you can see, there’s never (or seldom) been a female CEO in this company.”
Seeing is believing. What you see is what is possible. So if you don’t see yourself reflected on the walls of your organization, it’s hard to aspire to the top leadership roles. And when you think about the amount of time people spend walking along those hallways and sitting in meetings surrounded by those portraits, you can easily imagine the subconscious impact they have.
In case you never gave it much thought, women are usually not publicly recognized as much as men. Historically, we’ve learned a lot more about male artists, scientists, inventors and leaders of all sorts than about their female counterparts. Only in the last few years have museums and film studios started dedicating entire exhibits and movies to women and recognized the role of women in some of history's most salient moments.
Examples abound: Joan Clarke was featured in the "cracking the Enigma machine" exhibit at the Spyscape Museum in NYC. Then there's Hidden Figures, the movie that underscored the role of three black female mathematicians who worked at NASA during the Space Race.
This month, L’Oreal Argentina partnered with Studio Harcourt and the French Embassy in Argentina to roll out a unique exhibition at La Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires. It’s called #MujeresArgentinas (Argentine women), and it features 40 strong, Argentine leaders who make a difference in their fields. I had the honor to be part of the exhibit, so I can share firsthand the effect it has on most women and girls who visit it. When women and girls walk into La Usina del Arte, a well-known art venue, and see an entire exhibition featuring female leaders who range widely in background and age and work in very diverse sectors, they are utterly inspired.
Clearly, this is not a collection of headshots. Harcourt — known for its black and white pictures of leaders and celebrities, from presidents to Andy Warhol — photographing regular women who are making an impact in society but don’t necessarily have a celebrity profile allows millions of women to dream of what’s possible.
Think about what could happen if you gave the highest-ranking female talent in your organization a place on your walls, in the annual report or in the monthly newsletter. How quickly “seeing is believing” could turn images into dreams and dreams into accelerated careers. How fast could you diversify the top layer of your organization if your talent could see itself reflected and honored in their gender mates? Why not try it?
If you don't have several past female CEOs to make the current decoration of your boardroom look more inclusive, how about celebrating world leaders, artists, culturally relevant figures, visionaries and innovators of both sexes and all backgrounds? These could be sources of great inspiration for all your talent. It's a way of saying, "You can be on this wall too." The same goes for your annual report, internal newsletter and any other medium featuring pictures of who works in your organization or who you set as someone to look up to.
Finding ways to honor women publicly goes beyond your associates. You can easily have a profound impact in society by recognizing women's achievements outside your four walls and thus encourage new generations of women to aspire to the highest levels of decision making.
