From the course: A CEO’s Guide to a Career in Advertising and Marketing

Equality: See it and believe it at Starcom

From the course: A CEO’s Guide to a Career in Advertising and Marketing

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Equality: See it and believe it at Starcom

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- I would say that at Starcom, something that's kind of unique as you look out into companies around the country and the world, is that Starcom has a history of female leadership. So my first boss was the first female director. But what's happened here is that people see it, and then they believe it, and it's possible. So people don't think oh, I can't get to that level. Because the way that we're shaped, which is unusual, is we have just as many females. In fact, we have a greater percentage of females as VPs and above, than we do at the starting level. So my executive team is like 72% female and our overall agency's like 70. So that's unusual because what usually happens is you'd lose women at the top. But we're not like that at all. We retain them throughout the levels and I think that that's partly because people see it, and they believe it, and they know it can happen, and they just don't think it's impossible. I think that for us, equality isn't numbers and it's not some ratio that we necessarily have to get at because frankly from a female perspective, we're there. But there's a lot of other places where we're not there, and I think it's a lot about not only attracting people but retaining them, and helping them maybe through some rough spots that you first have to understand to help. So for me, equality is treating each person as a individual. For me, equality is letting people be their authentic self and actually requiring it. For me, equality is I see you, and I see you and I see what you need, and we're here to help you, and we're here to help you be the best that you can be.

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