Men as agents for change around gender equality

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

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”.

• Why women hold back – and why we need a smarter approach to workplace promotions

What follows is a lightly edited extract from Elisabeth’s book, in which she sets out the ‘change-maker framework’.

Becoming a change-maker for gender equality

“I cannot be a change agent for gender equality, Elisabeth. I do not have any daughters,” said Sandro, who was a managing partner in a professional services company. He had received negative feedback about his perceived lack of support for gender equality in the firm. He was not against gender equality as such, but every time he tried to engage on the issue, his involvement was described as lacklustre. 

Someone from HR found him a coach to support him on how to be more impactful in his engagement for gender equality. However, the coaching session left Sandro with the impression that, in order to be authentic in regard to gender equality, you need to be a father of daughters, and he had sons.