We are greater than the sum of our parts.

Let’s stop the eye rolling at the gender issue.

In an industry that is built on ideas, innovation and which thrives on constant change, I’ve often wondered why we haven’t delivered enough real change for diversity and inclusion in media and advertising. To put it a little more bluntly, what if diversity is the product and we are the consumer — why haven’t we come up with something yet?

Being in teams with people who come from different backgrounds, have different experiences and bring new perspectives into the room is something that has fuelled me at work throughout my career. You need to enjoy what you do to perform at your best and diverse teams have always been enriching for me on a personal level.

So I’m a believer in the idea that diversity and inclusion is good for business. But I am not under any illusion that diversity is automatically going to give you better results, because you have to invest in an inclusive culture to make the diverse mix work. This means making space for disagreement and inviting not silencing the dissenting view in the room. This isn’t always easier but the end result is superior. In our work helping some of the world’s biggest brands reach consumers from all walks of life it makes sense that we work to better reflect the audiences that we are supposed to be talking to on behalf of our clients.

Supporting the women I work with and helping them drive their individual successes, whatever that might look like, has always been important and personally motivating to me. But it can be frustrating when eyes increasingly glaze over when the topic of gender equality is brought to the table. The story is starting to feel old for some people, as we continue to talk but don’t deliver enough action. Perhaps the scale of the challenge feels too enormous.

The diversity debate can often be reduced to a narrow focus on gender, which can also end up speaking to only a small segment of women who come from similar backgrounds. Too often this happens through a reductive conversation focused purely on childcare. So we do need to change the narrative about gender equality to make it truly inclusive, and that also means giving men an active voice in the discussion. But we must be clear about one thing, the debate about gender equality is far from over.

Across the media and advertising industry, women fill more than half of entry level roles but this reduces to only one third at a leadership level. The picture is worse in creative departments, where 70 percent of young female creatives have never worked for a female creative director. It’s no surprise that this year’s call to action for International Women’s Day is to be bold for change.

I’m refreshed and emboldened by this year’s rallying cry, that we all — men and women — step up to be bold for change. And how can we? I for one will commit to not allowing the enormity of the challenge breed despondency, or worse still, inertia. I won’t allow the fear of being branded ‘that woman’ who bangs the drum about gender equality hold me back from putting it in the agenda where it belongs — at the top. I will repurpose resistance and channel that energy for positive change. If we recommit to driving true equality and inclusion and we all make one even small change, collectively that’s big.

We are greater than the sum of our parts.