We won’t solve gender issues with quotas

DE&I has been on everyone’s minds for the past several years, as organizational norms change and talent acquisition strives to meet quotas. The concepts of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace are noble, there’s no doubt about that, but we’ll never be able to solve diversity issues through numbers alone.

I’ve been working with top-tier organizations and their boards for over 15 years now, and a lot of them are struggling with diversity issues.

My own problem with imposed diversity is that it’s usually presented as a fight, and something we must combat and resolve. “There are not enough women in the boardroom.” “Women need to break the glass ceiling.” “We must fight our way up.”

Capitalist ideology encourages conflict and promotes divisions between winners and losers—and I’m seeing this tactic clearly in all current DE&I debates. Personally, I believe we need to drop our combative stance and dismiss the idea of a fight altogether. Instead, we should take time to self-reflect and become aware of who we are as individuals, and eventually, as groups.

Working together successfully is all about energy, and businesses must accept that reality.

I propose that we ask ourselves these important questions: Where do our masculine and feminine energies lie, and in which context do they reveal themselves? What kind of group are we when we meet? Are our meetings fueled with masculine or feminine energy? Are we able to go from one end of the spectrum to the other, and stay there? What triggers us, both individually and as a group? Do our reactions serve our purpose?

Bringing more women into the boardroom won’t change anything if we don’t also pay attention to how we use our masculine/feminine energies. Let’s say our board is composed of eight men and two women. In such male dominated contexts, what often happens is that women adapt to the masculine majority and start acting in their masculine energy, too, because they believe this is what’s expected of them.

If we’re not conscious about how we use our masculine/feminine energies, group dynamic mechanisms like groupthink and peer pressure sneak in and take over. Two women cannot balance out the masculine energy in a group when we’re unintentional about how we behave. The minority will always feel tempted to either rebel against a behavior and do the opposite, or assimilate and become the same.

As we integrate DE&I in the workplace, in parallel we must also accept that all of us, no matter our gender, are composed of both masculine and feminine energies. Try to understand your own reactions, triggers, and behaviors. And if you’re a strong, committed group who agrees to live up to the challenge, maybe even discuss this in your next meeting. You could open up a world of possibilities.

*Thanks to Charles Deluvio for sharing his photo!