Before I was Editor-in-Chief at Consulting magazine, I held the same position at other professional services publications— Training magazine, Sales & Marketing Management magazine and Incentive magazine. When I joined Consulting in early 2007, one thing became apparent almost immediately—there weren't a lot of women in leadership positions.
I would bet the first 20 or so interviews I conducted at Consulting were with men. This wasn't the case, by the way, with the other publications mentioned above. The training and incentive industries, in particular, have healthier gender balances.
It just seemed odd to me that a profession that cut its teeth on solving the most difficult business challenges of the day would rely so heavily on one type of sage. Many of my early consulting conversations with colleagues, in fact, were focused on this very topic.
I know now, of course, some of the reasons why this is, but they mean nothing to clients seeking a diversity of thought to solve complex challenges.
Part of Consulting 's mission is to effect change if and where we can. And much to the credit of those overseeing the publication in those days, the powers that be allowed us to take a chance and launch a new endeavour—The Women Leaders in Consulting Award and Gala as a way to recognize the outstanding woman in the profession, and the firms that were leading this initiative.
We swung for the fences, seeking a New York venue that could hold more than 300 people for a dinner. It turned out, we needed much less space that first year. We started small with about two dozen nominations, five awards and about 75 people at that inaugural dinner back in November of 2007.
But there was no going back. The profession has embraced the award and the gala more than we could have imagined. This year, we received some 450 nominations, recognized 12 award recipients and had nearly 200 people at the gala. All records.
In six years, Consulting recognized more than 50 women and 30 firms as leaders in this endeavor. But perhaps more than anything, we embrace and celebrate this diversity of thought that will no doubt make the consulting profession much more valuable to the clients it serves.
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