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Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant explain why men have no reason to fear gender equality
(Reuters / Mike Segar) Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. With all the attention on women moving up the corporate ladder, men are starting to worry they'll be shoved aside.
In Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant's latest New York Times article , the duo disregarded this fear and ensured that equality in the office is beneficial for men, too:
Equality is not a zero-sum game. More profits mean more rewards and promotions to go around. The risk is in not including women. Teams that fail to leverage the skills of a diverse work force fall behind.
The Facebook COO and Wharton professor use the example of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, which made a huge splash on Wall Street this past fall when it went public — women represent 47% of the company and 33% of senior positions. Their representation is high for a reason: "One of the secret sauces for Alibaba's success is that we have a lot of women," explained founder Jack Ma.
(Viking Books/YouTube) Wharton professor Adam Grant.
It is no secret that diversity drives creative thinking and innovation.
The more differences — between culture, race, and gender — within a team, the more perspectives and ideas that team will have when it comes to tackling a problem.
Diverse teams outperform smart teams, and women can fill the diversity void that is present in so many companies in a powerful way.
Sandberg and Grant explained:
If men want to make their work teams successful, one of the best steps they can take is to bring on more women .
Studies reveal that women bring new knowledge, skills and networks to the table, take fewer unnecessary risks, and are more inclined to contribute in ways that make their teams and organizations better. Successful venture-backed start-ups have more than double the median proportion of female executives of failed ones. And an analysis of the 1,500 Standard & Poor’s companies over 15 years demonstrated that, when firms pursued innovation, the more women they had in top management, the more market value they generated.
Women can offer a different, and incredibly valuable, perspective, which gives companies a competitive advantage.
This push to create a more equal work force is not about pushing men out, as their representation is just as crucial; rather it is about ensuring constant innovation and development within a company in order to benefit all employees. Equality is everyone's battle to fight.
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