LET me ask you a question, should we still be celebrating “firsts”?
Let me expand. When a woman has been elevated to a position of authority in sport and has hit the headlines, should we celebrate this because previously the role has always been in the male domain? Don’t you think that in 2021 we should have a strong gender balance in all positions of authority, with a good mix of diversity thrown in and, can I add, not just in sport?
The news this week that the FA had appointed their “first” female as chair of the Football Association, Debbie Hewitt, from January 2022, is very welcome. However, let’s have a think at how long women have been involved in the game, more than likely in the background, and ask the question, where would football be now if it wasn’t for their largely unrecognised army of female volunteers and their hard-work?
For many years women have worked in the background, giving support to sport in so many ways. It just seems to be that one final step – putting a woman at the top, making her the decision maker – that seems to be the sticking point. Why should this be the case? Recently, the Harvard Business research team carried out a study of women leaders during the pandemic to find out the effectiveness of their leadership.
In summary, they concluded that – and I quote – “according to an analysis of 360-degree assessments conducted between March and June of this year, women were rated by those who work with them as more effective. The gap between men and women in the pandemic is even larger than previously measured, possibly indicating that women tend to perform better in a crisis. In fact, women were rated more positively on 13 of the 19 competencies that comprise overall leadership effectiveness in the authors’ assessment.”
Women are found to be empathetic, transparent, authentic and inclusive, making decisions based on collective conversations and clearly stating the facts, without contradiction.
Debbie Hewitt has an impressive CV and an extensive non-executive career spanning over 15 years in listed, private equity-backed and privately-owned companies, across many different sectors and there is no doubt that she is extremely qualified for this role. When you realise that the population breakdown in the UK is around 51% female to 49% male, the question arises, why aren’t more women leading the way?
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