Gender Intelligence in the workplace

As the recent Jill Abramson kerfuffle at the New York Times, has shown, gender issues still impact the workplaces of even the most public and apparently tolerant of companies.

Perhaps in seeing that, and so many other examples, we might realize that we are approaching these issues in the wrong way.  Diversity is not just about numbers, or quotas and expecting everyone to be the same. Homogenization is not diversity.  Being forced to Lean In, is not about recognizing one's strengths, but about mimicking the strengths of others.

We still need to learn that while overall acceptance is important, diversity lies not in one size fits all, but in celebrating differences and taking full advantage of the different intelligences that different individuals and different genders bring to the workplace.  These are the issues that Barbara Annis and Keith Merron take up in Gender Intelligence: Breakthrough Strategies for Increasing Diversity and Improving Your Bottom Line.

My conversation with Barbara Annis and Keith Merron: