The Fearless Girl: A Call to Reflect and Refresh
On the eve of this year’s International Women’s Day, a Fearless Girl faced down the Charging Bull of Wall Street.
Created by U.S. artist Kristen Visbal on behalf of State Street Advisors, the statue aims to shine a light on the power of women in leadership. Not only that, but it was a call from State Street Advisors to its 3,500 peer companies — all of which represent more than $30 trillion in market capitalization — to increase female participation and membership on corporate boards. When I first saw the picture, I had an immediate reaction: “I love that statue! So gutsy. So fierce!
As a mom and a sister and an exec at a global company, I am pretty sure a lot of girls and women felt the same way. And I know that when the voices and experience of girls and women everywhere are heard, celebrated and valued, incredible things can happen. Fearless Girl — to me — is a testament to their value.
Along with feelings of empowerment, the Fearless Girl has also given me time to reflect on the diversity and inclusion efforts businesses like SAP have taken with empathy-driven initiatives like Business Beyond Bias.
By pledging to move our business beyond bias, we’ve dedicated ourselves to four areas of focus when diversifying our workforce: gender intelligence, cross-generational intelligence, culture and identity, and differently abled people. To do, so we’ve used machine learning innovation to help in the detection and prevention of unconscious bias for our customers. Additionally, we’ve cultivated an environment of acceptance and innovation through employee resource groups like the Business Women’s Network and Black Employee Network and through programs like Autism at Work, which dedicates itself to helping people on the autistic spectrum find meaningful work. By having these measures in place, we aim to create a workforce that not only looks more like our customers and partners, but the rest of the world.
It would be too easy for us to pat ourselves on the back when it comes to empathy, laud ourselves with the recognition we’ve received in the past year for our efforts, simply say “That’s it! We’re diverse, inclusive and empathetic! The work is done!” and move on to another project. But that’s not what we’re doing and that’s not what we’re going to do. Instead of relying on validation from within SAP, we’re measuring our success by focusing on the positive affirmations from the customers and communities affected by our actions. Ultimately, SAP cannot really call itself empathetic until outside sources say we are.
Empathy and achieving diversity is a journey, not an end point. Making meaningful cultural change and transforming the status quo will take time. What we’re doing now is only the beginning.
Empathy and achieving diversity is a journey, not an end point.
From a corporate level to an individual level, the world could all stand to be a little more empathetic. Let’s finally put an end to empty promises, complacency and self-praise and instead focus on listening to and giving a voice to those who might not otherwise have it. That being said, I’m calling on myself and my fellow business leaders to not only provide the platform for women, people of color, members of the LGBT community, and other marginalized groups to share their experiences, but to promote a culture of acceptance, understanding, and professional growth.
It’s time to be fearless.
