I’m With “Her”s. All Of You.

I can’t begin to express how angry, disappointed, embarrassed, and appalled I am after reading this. This is the same argument about “identity politics”. Screw that. There are groups of people that have decks systemically stacked against them. “Women in advertising” is one of them. The ad industry at large is not a meritocracy. If it was, the odds would be that women would be equally represented (at least!) in executive roles, or at least paid the same. Neither are true. Is the racial diversity debate over too? Not even close.

We, as an industry, need to call this kind of harmful thinking out. Advertisers need to speak with their wallets. Otherwise, we are all enablers. Leaders aren’t just born, they are made; they are given the same opportunities as those that aren’t, but did more with them; they are told they can be leaders and are encouraged to be, not just because they are on the white male fast track. We need diverse sets of leaders in our companies. Those points-of-views will make us stronger, better businesses.

Women tend to not be in executive roles for lots of reasons. One of which is that men hold on to them. Another is because we’ve built a system that says it’s not possible or likely. Another is that companies — and states — have policies in place that say you can’t (or shouldn’t) run a family *and* a business.

I don’t see how these statements will contribute to the intelligent discourse of how to make our industry better. All I know is that if leaders continue to look like me, and come from the same background as me, and have had a life of the same privilege as me, we’ll be so far out of touch with the average American, we’ll render ourselves irrelevant.

That said, if you work for a company that encourages people to be average and not strive to be leaders, and that doesn’t sit well with you, send me your resumé — I’m always looking for leaders of every gender and race; not just because I think our industry actually does have a problem, but because it will make us a better company if we have you.