The Accidental Feminist

There was no wow moment. At least, I do not remember one. Maybe it was because we were four sisters at home and I went to an all-girls school until the age of 14, and I did not feel any gender discrimination growing up. Or maybe, because my father who is a tough Lebanese judge-turned-lawyer who had always wanted a son, almost raised us like boys. Or maybe it was because I marveled how my resilient mother calmly defied military checkpoints -appearing totally fearless in front of these armed men- during the Lebanese war in which I grew up.

Or maybe it wasn't. It could have been the high school where I transferred to at the age of 15: a previously all-boys school where I was one of six girls in a class of 35, and I felt the need to prove that I was smarter than the boys. And I did- at least for a while. But it was definitely not the moment when one of my classmates found some high school class cartoon from MAD magazine, where I was uncanningly matched to the least attractive girl with glasses labelled "Most Likely to Become a Feminist". I knew that ruined any remaining remote chance of ever being asked by a boy to even dance with him. So, it was then, that I determinedly decided never to be that feminist.

So how did I end up starting a Reverse Mentoring Program for CEOs of media companies? A program where each CEO is mentored by a junior woman executive to make him more aware of issues facing women in the media corporate world. And how did the proverbial glass ceiling become "my issue" at every informal discussion I had with my colleagues at the World Economic Forum ? Possibly by accident, but more probably because it was inevitable to miss this flagrant, yet so subtle, prejudice that faces women in the corporate world.

The idea was not my own. I had participated in something similar when I was working at Reuters in New York. I was selected to be part of a Reverse Mentoring Programme that was to mentor senior management on diversity issues. I, being a Lebanese woman, fit the bill quite nicely. I could not have imagined upfront the level of impact I would have on the organization 12 months later.

Fast forward three years: different job, different continent, different type of organization. I was a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum . I had left the corporate world as I wanted to do something "more meaningful". The mission of the Forum was exactly what I was looking for. My day job involved managing our partnerships with media companies, and engaging their executives, from their CEO down, in both industry and global corporate citizenship initiatives. In addition, as a fellow in my third year, I had to exhibit leadership skills with a project that had "impact" and was in line with the Forum's mission of "committed to improving the state of the world." The media world was one of those corporate environments that were quite friendly to women on the surface- as opposed to say, financial services or IT. Yet, surprisingly or, after all, not so surprisingly, there were too few women at the top. It was also evident that blatant discrimination was not so common anymore- at least in the Western world. That battle was fought by the previous generation of women. They had learned how to prove themselves and show their male colleagues that they could play their game and even win. But that was the point: it was their game.

That was the first step. A giant first step. However what I had experienced -as a woman in the media world myself- made me realise that it was so much harder to win at that game. Slowly I recognized that I - and most women- were at a slight disadvantage. Not because men were vicious or ambitious or even macho (although, of course, they can be all three!). It was just because their game was to run a fast race and win , and we women were being trained to run faster, and sometimes even given a headstart so that we could compete fairly. But all that missed the point. What if we changed the game from "sprinting" to "marathon running" or even, gosh do I dare say, to "synchronised swimming"? How would we all perform in the organisation? How would men react? Did they even realise that women are being forced, and often encouraged to hone their skills, to play the same game whose rules were laid down by men?

Pairing a junior woman executive with the CEO of the company to "tell it as it is" and have that CEO understand the "female" point of view seemed like a decently good idea. It also gave the women mentors visibility in their own companies. And true to my nature, it was practical, executable with "real" impact, rather than it being an ambitious research document that my sceptical self always believed remained unread.

My to-do-list included:

1-Get approval internally for the project.

- With my equally feminist, mentor-boss, that proved no obstacle at all. She was as enthusiastic and more supportive than I could ever dream of.

2-Convince a few media CEOs in Davos, where they are bombarded with huge, new ideas while they are sprinting from one meeting to a networking event, to participate in this Reverse Mentoring Program.

- To my utmost surprise, 8 media CEOs showed genuine interest and asked me to follow up with them.

3- Get the program executed with women mentors selected and paired with their CEOs, so that can start meeting.

- After some gentle prodding, I had 5 media companies fully on board, with a mentor-mentee CEO pair, briefed and up and running.

4- Showcase the program to get more traction and other media companies excited to participate.

- A meeting of top CEOs in Montreux, Switzerland (July 2008) where the 5 present mentor-CEO mentee pairs will share their insights (and this article thanks to Arriana!)

Almost incredulous, I got to meet each CEO and most of the women mentors one-on-one. They were scattered over Geneva, London, Brussels and New York. They involved the top media companies such as Young & Rubicam and The Financial Times.

It was later that it hit me: I had actually done something. I had impacted 5 major media companies around the world. While it is too soon to quantify what change has actually happened in these companies (the Reverse Mentoring Program started less than 2 months ago), having these CEOs dedicate 2 hours per month to get mentored on women issues in the corporation is a feat by itself. Listening to the women mentors also made me realise that they had a voice that so needed to be heard. And I had a role to play in that. I boosted the courage they already had and pep-talked their perseverance. Courage and perseverance being two qualities that sometimes hibernated within me. But I had to be a role model for them.

While this currently employs around 20% of my job, it energises 100% of my heart. While, like any good employee, whining, whingeing and being cynical is part of my DNA, when it comes to this project, I stand solid and believe that it makes a difference. You see, I have future leaders who are influencing current leaders to change their corporations vis-à-vis women. And at least in my optimistic mind, I have influence over that. So finally, maybe I could even partially tick the box on my list of things to do which said "Do something more meaningful". And while I sometimes feel I stumbled into all this "feminist business" accidentally, I turned out to be the luckiest and most satisfied casualty.

To view updates on the Reverse Mentoring Programme of the World Economic Forum, please go here.