Women enter a new all-boys club

Women entering the inner core of the world's most majestic golf clubs is an event of our times. Sometimes it's hard to believe we have been so antiquated and outmoded in our openness. The Augusta National or even the St Andrew's have unshackled their doors and minds only now to let women in to be members. Golf's not alone in this regard. We have the corporate world as well. That hiring women is an imperative that organisations have come to believe in only now. If at all. But it's heartening to be part of a dialogue that's seeking change. That gender fairness is being pursued.

Last month I was hosting the Deutsche Bank Women in Asian Business Conference. And their subject was most interesting – Men Matter. The idea was to debate how in organisational structures and in boardrooms men hold the key to women rising up the ladder. Not because women won't rise on their own but because for centuries men haven't made enough place for them. Core to this was the realisation that to alienate men from the gender debate was like cutting off half the population that could potentially spur the movement forward.

Traditionally, gender issues have been accredited to women's issues as if its a battle by women for women. There is only little discussion on why that has happened. There is also the notion that men can't talk gender equality because it stops them being 'men'. We have a great sense of the women's issues, but a surface level understanding on what role men can play in helping progress the gender agenda: How can that be addressed? Corporate boardrooms are brimming over with challenge. "It's time to take the issue mainstream," asserted Tan Sri Rafiah Salim, who counts herself among the few women who sit on powerful boards and is a former UN assistant secretary general.

Diversity is not just about numbers but about how many places or positions women are, so they also make a lager impact on policy, and therefore impact the lives of more women. Is it time to inspire, challenge and change ideas around the role men play in supporting and sponsoring women to top? It's hard not to mention that very awkward statistic that there are more CEOs named John than women CEOs around the world. Is it time for India Inc to doggedly chase the notion that men must become ambassadors for gender fairness? How can organisations explain what's in it for men to be part of this diversity change? How could they be brought on board? While we do have some laws that make things mandatory but surely the movement of getting more women in company's key positions will get propelled if the inherent philosophy says so. Over the weekend Unilever's Paul Polman insisted, "Gender equality also presents an enormous opportunity for economic and business growth. Addressing the barriers is not just the right thing to do; it must be a business priority."

Even as corporations search for their own solutions, it might work well for them to begin here: Advocacy over advice. Men matter as they can transform leadership positions by opening them to women and turning their sponsors over just being mentors. They must actively be part of the women's equality movement.