The Intermediary – March 2025 - Flipbook - Page 74
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
will not be taking part in
this year’s festivities on 8th
March. Usually, I am giving a
speech somewhere – unpaid,
because aer all it is women’s
work – and watching lots of
virtue signalling while reading about
what the numbers actually tell us
about those companies crowing about
their success.
On Saturday 8th March, I shall
instead be landing in Rwanda. Plans
include shopping at a women’s
cooperative that is doing a great deal to
support women in business, meeting
and encouraging women building
their own careers to provide for and
I
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The Intermediary | March 2025
improve the lives of their families and
their country. Somehow, it all feels
much more real.
So why am I, an incorrigible
optimist, feeling curmudgeonly about
International Women’s Day (IWD)?
Well, I’m fed up pointing out that, as
51% of the adult population, women
are neither a minority nor very diverse
– except from each other. What we
are, instead, is much more aligned
with younger generations and all other
diversities. Whatever benefits women,
benefits the majority of those people
deemed ‘different’ from the ones who
have held the power and the finances
for generations.
My first ever big speech was for the
Glasgow Herald bicentenary. We, the
panel, argued for 50% representation
in business and politics.
This isn’t exactly a groundbreaking
statement, I hear you say, plenty of
women call for it every day. But that
speech took place in 1983! I have the
newspaper cuing, or I wouldn’t
believe it myself.
Here I am still talking about it
– boring you, boring me. We have
moved at glacial speed in employing
the entire talent pool more effectively
and treating women with equity.
Research shows incontrovertibly
that having a diverse workforce is good
