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Vote with Your Dollars
What would you risk if you had an opportunity to get a decade's worth of learning in the space of a year while undertaking a legitimate, entrepreneurial effort to make the world a better place?
Would you risk a good job in a horrible economy and your financial future? Would you give up your comfortable home and instead put your worldly goods into storage and travel around to talk to people about why they should support your idea? Would you give up nights and weekends (and the entire concept of "paid time off") to dedicate yourself to it? Would you take on all of the uncertainty and possibility of failing utterly to follow your passion? Wise or foolish, that's exactly what I've done. The Idea is Simple  Look for the Female Equality MattersTM logo when you shop and buy when you see it to make sure you are spending with (and donating to) entities that value women as top talent, not only as consumer spending. Imagine it- a way to help crack the glass ceiling doing something that we have to do anyway- shop!My company was built, in part, from my experiences as an HR expert at four different Fortune 100 companies over the years. As an HR person, you see what makes the most difference in producing more female leaders which is, in a vicious circle, female leaders. Typically, women are more comfortable promoting, hiring and even developing more female talent. The more women in top leadership, the more women being developed for top leadership.
While doing the right thing for the pure sake of it is occasionally done, companies need a reason to really care about more women in the top slots. When consumer spending is directed towards those entities that have an exceptional number of women in top leadership, that reward in the marketplace is sure to drive change in the ranks of top leadership to favor one with exceptional female representation. While various organizations will bemoan the difficulties in making these changes, when consumer dollars are on the line, they can make shifts with shocking speed. This leaves it all in our hands- or wallets at any rate. When women express our desire to shop from companies (or donate to causes) that value women as top talent by leveraging our power as the "largest emerging market on the planet", those dollars directly and inexorably translate to shifts in top leadership. So, the next time you shop, ask yourself if the place you're putting your money is one that believes you're smart enough just to buy the product or one that believes you're smart enough to run the company. Women in the workforce of today and the future will thank you for choosing the latter because, truly, Female Equality MattersTM. About the Author Kathlene Mullens is the Founder & CEO of Female Equality MattersTM, which began with a brainstorming session on what would help to advance females into more leadership positions in business. After a great deal of mulling and pondering, the answer for organization that sell directly to customers was clear: impact the bottom line. The idea for Female Equality MattersTM was born- she would create an independent organization to certify companies' results with respect to treating women equally in the workplace, let women know about what the certification means, evaluate companies and certify them then allow people the opportunity to vote with their dollars for products and services that have proven they provide exceptional opportunities to females. Various corporate initiatives are wonderful. Board and C-Suite driven directives are fantastic. Data, however, is the answer. Data tells the unbiased story about how effective all of these efforts are and is the only basis for becoming Female Equality MattersTM certified. Efforts are applauded. Positive outcomes are Certified. Female Equality MattersTM is a wholly independent, privately-owned enterprise headquartered in the Columbus, Ohio USA metropolitan area. Follow Kathlene at @FemaleEquality or join their Facebook group. Is this helpful? Please let us know in the comments your thoughts on this as well as other ways we can help you with your career and training. blog comments powered by Disqus |
