Diversity has always been a topic that arouses a wide range of reactions, from real enthusiasm (usually among the underrepresented) to eye-rolling or complete unfriendliness. However, over the following few years, not only did the representation of women on FTSE-100(富时100指数) boards more than double but the mindset shifted in the UK. This was no longer a special interest issue but everyone's issue.
But we're now at crossroads. The gender issue in particular is a well-worn subject but not yet one we have mastered. Yes, there are more female world leaders and company directors, but many women tell me they feel discouraged about their prospects. They can't see the link between their own reality and gender equality efforts that often seem targeted at a narrow group of white, privileged and highly educated women, rather than at all women.
I am optimistic that the next breakthrough is within reach. Technology has changed how we work, communicate and influence. Command & control power structures are rapidly breaking down, and emerging instead is a more inclusive notion of power. Leaders today need to be able to connect. This is good news for people who are empathetic, who are collaborative-qualities that are often described as feminine, although obviously men can exhibit them too.
Women of my generation who've made it to senior roles had to fit in with past practices to succeed. Today, we have an unprecedented opportunity to reinvent the rules, to create new ways of working, living and bringing up families. We no longer need to give in: instead, we can change the system.
But a new danger comes. The diversity agenda has gone off track and we need to remind ourselves of the basics again. Diversity is about being different, and inclusion is about welcoming those differences. Somehow that has become confused with the opposite notion, that valuing people as equals means preventing our differences.
