What Happens When the Hashtag Ends?

Why it is taking everyone so long to realize that leadership has nothing to do with gender?

International Women’s Day always riles me up. Starting today and lasting for at least the next week we’ll see companies of various sizes, descriptions and geographies fall all over themselves to show the world that women work there. Well done, that’s great. But I find myself wondering what happens in these same businesses next week when the #internationalwomensday hashtag inevitably falls to the wayside.

Business as usual for Transguard means focusing the business acumen and expertise of our leaders on the twin goals of creating the best possible workplace for our employees and providing standard-setting service to our customers. And guess what? These leaders are men and women, each of whom has an equal place at the table because they are committed to growing the business from the foundation of their expertise. This is not a new initiative or a knee-jerk reaction to the winds of political change – it’s just good business sense to hire, listen to and collaborate with the best minds available, which is what we’ve done for years and something that’s been important to me throughout my career.

Rather than focus on gender as a reason to bring someone into a business, I’ve always made it a point to seek out subject matter experts when building my teams. If these specialists happen to be women, fantastic. But that should never be a reason to hire or promote someone.

What bothers me is the sheer amount of effort that is still necessary to convince the world that female leaders are entitled to have their voices heard. Transguard has been in this place for years and quite honestly, I don’t understand why it is taking everyone so long to wake up to the reality that leadership has nothing to do with gender. If you want your business to grow, you hire people (men and women) who will take you there. Full stop.

I firmly believe that every day should be about equal opportunity, not just one day each year in March.