Media Release
To achieve inclusive gender equality we really need to talk about power
17 June 2023
To accelerate change on gender equality in Australian workplaces, it is critical that leaders better understand, harness and, where necessary disrupt systems of personal and organisational power that may be impeding progress, according to a new resource from Champions of Change Coalition.
Power to create inclusive gender equality in the workplace, provides all leaders with a practical guide to explore how power is attained and attributed, make visible the systems of power that exist in organisations and demonstrate how power dynamics can impact progress towards achieving inclusive gender equality.
The founding premise of the Champions of Change in 2010 was to harness the power held by CEOs to drive change on gender equality.
Over the past 13 years Champions of Change Members have done considerable work on the systems of power that create barriers to gender equality: redefining the concept of ‘merit’ and its application; identifying and fixing inherent biases in pay and reward systems; disrupting traditional responses to sexual harassment in the workplace; and ensuring the perspectives of women are included in public life.
“We have made solid progress, but barriers remain. A range of demographic and socio-economic tailwinds still work to elevate the career trajectory of some individuals over others. And when we look around Australia’s C-suites and boardrooms, even today, they are overwhelmingly dominated by white men, which just doesn’t reflect Australia’s population,” said Elizabeth Broderick AO, Founder and Convenor Champions of Change Coalition.
Conversations about power dynamics may be uncomfortable, but they are necessary to create change.
CEOs today may not have noticed the systems of power that supported or hindered their own progress to leadership.
“It’s easy to reflect on your pathway to leadership in the rear-view mirror. It’s not as easy when you’re working your way to the top. Once you realise the way you’ve attained power, your use of power and your decision making is fundamentally changed,” said Andrew Stevens Founding Group Member and Director of Champions of Change Coalition.
“As executives we need to reflect on our own journeys. We need to talk about power and understand it. That’s where we need to start: to confront our senior executives, to have honest, safe discussions where they reflect on the privileged position that we may have as a result of power” said Andrew Colvin APM AO, Partner Financial Advisory Services Deloitte
“Often, we think about power in a formal or hierarchical sense. But it’s not about highly structured organisations, it’s about who you give your time to, it’s about who you prioritise, and it’s about who makes the decisions within your organisation,” said Andrew Colvin APM AO.
“We have been looking at ways that we can really start to have conversations to educate the different levels. Power is a privilege, and leadership is a privilege, and we have to lean in and have the conversations. There’s an opportunity for people to step back and actually understand the different power dynamics,” said Leanne Harwood, SVP, Managing Director, Japan, Australasia & Pacific, IHG Hotels and Resorts.
Recognise women in all their diversity
It is essential for leaders to engage with all women, and particularly women who may not have been the beneficiaries of gender equality efforts to date.
“We need different people in the room to get better outcomes for our business. We can’t just keep replacing people through the pathways that have come before. The important things for us is to listen to people that are not well heard, so that we hear those different voices, and we hear what our audience want, and we hear what our clients want. We need to hear a range of opinions, and we don’t need everybody to come from the usual pathways” said Beverley McGarvey, Executive Vice President, Chief Content Officer and Head of Paramount+, Paramount ANZ.
Understanding power
“We all have multiple aspects to our power personality. When you are conscious of that power, you are a much more effective contributor and builder of the team’s power and capability. We combine the conversations about power with conversations about our duty to serve, to respect others, to show moral courage to have integrity in our actions and words and to pursue our profession with excellence,” said General Angus Campbell AO DSC, Chief of the Defence Force.
Mark Davies Chief Technical Officer, Rio Tinto said “We know we’ve got a power imbalance between our operational roles and our functional roles. The more formal types of power like positional power, operational power and financial power are very strong but it’s actually reinforced by informal power, like networks, which can be a real impediment to people coming into our organisation.
“We’re really looking differently at how we recruit and promote and trying to go beyond the traditional experience and our old-fashioned role descriptions. We are challenging ourselves to look outside the industry, to construction, oil and gas and beyond to find the sort of transferable skills that that we need,” said Mark Davies.
“The property sector is very influenced by one’s ability and prowess around deal-making. Network power and relationships are often reinforced in male oriented settings. We have a “Pitch Pledge” in our sector which is about creating an opportunity for women to get access to the critical experiences on the pathway to leadership which they can be excluded from. We are providing opportunities for young women to come into these pitch teams and get into that room of power,” said Phil Rowland Chief Executive Officer, Pacific CBRE.
Power to create inclusive gender equality in the workplace
“We have the unique opportunity as Champions of Change, to draw attention to power dynamics, and to lead the change by harnessing power dynamics that can advance women and disrupting power dynamics that hold them back or exclude them,” said Annika Freyer, CEO Champions of Change Coalition.
“It’s not going to change without active, thoughtful efforts. You’ve got to have people with positional power, thinking actively about how to drive change. You need to embed gender equality into your way of working and being thoughtful about how you’re hiring,” said Helen Lofthouse Managing Director and CEO ASX.
“Power is such a privilege, and it’s such an opportunity. If you keep doing the same thing, then you’ve got a red light to change, not a green light to cause change,” said Ann Sherry AO, Convenor Champions of Change STEM Group, Chancellor Queensland University of Technology.
“The question I ask CEOs is, ‘What are you doing with the power that you have? You’re running organisations. Your board expects you to do amazing things. Think bigger about the things that you can do, and the things you can change in your organisation,’” said Ann Sherry AO.
The Champions of Change Coalition includes CEOs, secretaries of government departments, non-executive directors and community leaders who believe gender equality is a major business, economic, societal, and human rights issue. The Champions of Change Coalition is a globally recognised, innovative strategy for achieving gender equality, advancing more and diverse women in leadership and building respectful and inclusive workplaces. Established in 2010 by Elizabeth Broderick AO, our mission is to achieve inclusive gender equality and a significant and sustainable increase in the representation of women in leadership. The Champions of Change Coalition brings together more than 260 leaders from 230 organisations with over 1.4 million employees across 155 countries.
