Corporations acknowledge that there should be more women in leadership positions, however many don’t turn fact into action. One predominantly women-led marketing firm is working to change that. The AD Leaf is committed to promoting and cultivating strong female voices to rise and lead the next generation of marketing professionals thus giving women a voice in their industry. Women hold over 60% of their leadership roles and have earned the company the coveted “Women-Led” badge by Google.
“We believe women in leadership is what has helped propel our organization,” said Crystal Mazuera, Vice President at The AD Leaf. “Our clients have experienced unparalleled growth during this time due to our diverse approach.”
The AD Leaf doesn’t just focus on recruitment; it aims to help women advance by providing training opportunities through live events and webinars, as well as one-on-one mentoring from experienced marketers who have been there before them. This approach has not only created a better staff environment but garnered unprecedented profits for their clients.
Why Aren’t More Women in Leadership?
While women make up over half of the workforce in America, they only hold about 25% of leadership positions. There are numerous obstacles that hinder women’s careers in business.
Hidden Bias
Hidden biases can cause people to not even realize how much their own actions may be limiting the careers of women. One survey found that men and women were four times more likely to recommend a male candidate than an equally qualified female one for jobs despite there being no actual difference between these candidates’ abilities. Many other studies have concluded similar results which indicate hidden bias is often why women do not get ahead as quickly in business settings.
Women also struggle to gain respect from their peers as an aggressive leadership approach is considered “intimidating” whole a softer style is “weak”. These gender stereotypes create a no-win situation for women leaders, however, others with these approaches are still valued.
Mentorship
Another significant reason women do not gain leadership roles is a lack of mentorship. Men are four times more likely to have mentors, and this hurts women’s success as they often don’t develop the key skills needed for advancement such as negotiation. When women ask for what they need or want it can be seen as pushy or demanding, so even if their work speaks for itself women may still miss out on opportunities. These gender stereotypes create an unfair advantage against women leaders.
Women also typically receive less initial funding due to sexist assumptions that women aren’t serious about growing their business by failing to invest in them from the start. This causes women entrepreneurs to take longer building up capital before seeing any return on investment which makes women less likely to be considered for funding opportunities.
How The AD Leaf is Driving Women Forward
The predominantly women-led marketing firm, The AD Leaf, is driving women forward by giving all marketers including female ones an open platform to utilize their experience to form strategic marketing plans. This approach has cultivated strong female voices that have risen to lead the next generation of marketing professionals. They accomplish this through world-class leadership training. Most leadership positions are filled internally through mentoring new staff and cultivating dynamic leadership qualities.
The female leaders at The AD Leaf are proud to be part of an organization that empowers all staff regardless of gender. It is important for a marketing firm to have diversity in its staff in order to represent a wide variety of clientele. Every business has a different demographic, shouldn’t your marketing team?
