What needs to change?
I was recently at a meeting with a client who has become fascinated by the role of men in diversity and what we are encouraging from the men in business. He says that when he leads workshops on the subject, he asks participants to write down the main characteristics they associate with ‘a real man’.
He then asks them to write down the characteristics they associate with ‘a good man’. I had never thought of this two expressions quite so starkly before but as soon as I said it, I was dispirited as my experience is that we laud the real man, despite some negative connotations with the expression whereas the good men appear to succeed in spite of the moniker rather than because of it. Is it time for a change?