“It’s time to bring more people aboard”

Men Stepping Forward: Leading your organization on the path to inclusion by Professor Elisabeth Kelan has been named the overall winner of Management Publication of the Year 2024.

Ian Gray and John Bessant were also celebrated as winners of the SME Growth category for their The Scaling Value Playbook, and Sreevas Sahasranamam as the winner of the Sustainable Future category for his Blog series.  

The awards are supported by CMI, the British Academy of Management (BAM), Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS) and the British Library, and were presented at a ceremony on 24 February 2025.

Elisabeth is professor of leadership and organisation at King’s Business School, King’s College London, and her book is a practical guide for men who want to play their part in helping deliver gender-balanced workplaces. Intentionally short, the book was designed to be accessible for all, as Elisabeth shared how she wanted “managers to be able to pick it up and read it on a two-hour flight”. 

Men Stepping Forward is being recognised at a time when inclusion initiatives are being withdrawn around the world. One of US president Donald Trump’s first actions following his inauguration was to issue executive orders cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the US federal government. 

Receiving the award, Elisabeth said the book came at a “fortuitous time”. She acknowledged that in recent years many people had felt “misunderstood” in the drive for diversity and inclusion. She suggested that now is an “opportunity” to engage these people and “bring them aboard” the fight for gender equality. 

Elisabeth’s book – which focuses on how readers can develop a vision for gender equality, enable inclusive practices within their organisations and have a role-modelling impact on others – is testament to how we can “create conversation” in an otherwise “hostile” climate.