Look to the Future
The men working to move women into the boardroom
SIX years ago, Elizabeth Broderick, then the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, picked up the phone and called some of Australia’s most powerful men to ask if they would become members of an exclusive group. This was a boys’ club with a significant difference: it was designed to get more women into leadership, not shut them out.
The Male Champions of Change (MCC) formally convened in 2010 with the aim of achieving “a significant and sustainable improvement in the unacceptably low levels of women in leadership”. It started out with eight heavy-hitting members of Australia’s corporate elite at the time, including David Thodey, then CEO of Telstra; Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas; and Stephen Fitzgerald, former chair of Goldman Sachs Australia and New Zealand. In 2011, they were joined by six more business leaders.
Sceptics questioned the MCC’s men-only membership and their commitment but Broderick was very clear about the rationale: progress in tackling the inequality that has excluded women from top jobs and seen them earn less than men was way too slow – and the people wielding the power in Australian organisations were overwhelmingly men.
“[The MCC] is probably the only place where men are exposed and held accountable for progress,” says Broderick, whose term as Sex Discrimination Commissioner ended last year (she was succeeded by lawyer Kate Jenkins). “The MCC strategy requires men to take responsibility and be accountable for promoting gender equality for women. It’s a safe space for male leaders to learn about what works and what doesn’t – to experiment, to be bold. It’s a peer-driven strategy so one of the outcomes is that all members step up.”
The group, now established as a not-forprofit, meets quarterly, with no stand-ins allowed. Through discussion and comparing notes, the MCCs develop practical strategies for use by their companies and the group.
As a result, in 2013, then Telstra CEO David Thodey launched the All Roles Flex program that offers flexible working options across the telco’s entire business. The initiative has since been taken up by the ANZ (CEO Shayne Elliott is an MCC) and the ASX.
Other tactics are Targets with Teeth (which means holding executives accountable for reaching set goals for women in management), the Panel Pledge (a commitment to speak only at conferences and forums where there is gender diversity), procurement influence (by examining the gender credentials of major suppliers) and establishing programs for victims of domestic violence.
Recent research examining the concept of merit is an example of regular collaboration between the MCC and Chief Executive Women (see page 106) and the group publishes annual progress data on gender outcomes from each organisation.
The model has spread beyond the original catchment. There are state groups in Australia and several sectors, including elite sports and property. The idea has also been exported, with groups in Japan, international ambassadors in New Zealand and Hong Kong, and plans to start a group in the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Broderick is now a special adviser to the executive director of UN Women on private sector engagement, which involves chairing a group of the world’s top CEOs. All the MCCs are highly competitive, which can be a huge motivator, says Broderick, because “no-one wants to be left behind or to let the team down”.
Here, some of the MCCs tell us about their challenges and successes.