One of the current catch cries in the corporate world is ‘gender diversity’. Now, maybe I’m a bit dense, but I’m not sure what that means given that there are essentially only two genders.

I think this calls for some clarification. What we really need to be talking about is gender equality.   And that, dear reader, is not a woman’s issue, no matter how it’s portrayed.

It is in fact a leadership issue and given that the majority of corporate, institutional and educational leaders are in fact men, it rests the problem squarely at the feet of men as leaders.

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, 20-first’s CEO, tried to be helpful in this and suggested that gender equality is a business issue. Now, I get where she is coming from. It maybe helpful to garner support for the issue because there is a buck in it, but I need to state this plainly. I disagree.

My argument rests on the fact in order to understand the gender equality issue, we need to address our understanding of the very nature of masculinity in society.Because it is masculinity which is at the heart of the problem. And this is the core issue. Corporate leaders continue to value the four key characteristics of the traditional masculine stereotype above anything else.

‘We need to secure territory, we need to maintain a strict hierarchy in our corporate structures, we need to continue to be acquisition and competitive, and we need to exercise this with all of our might.’

But gender inequality is NOT confined to corporate governance. It is an issue that needs to be addressed in our political institutions as much as our educational ones. One which is infused into the fabric of our social and cultural memes.

So, let me restate the issue. Gender equity is NOT a business issue. It is an issue that we as individuals, especially men, need to address as individuals and then to take this into the very communities that we are a part of. It is at the very heart of our vision for our relationships that constitute our society, a just society at that.

This means that gender equity is a moral and ethical issue. Since a cornerstone of business is about ethical governance, or at least it should be, then we need to prioritise the ethics of equity rather than business. I agree with Richard Hytner, deputy chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, who suggests that change will require a shift in the way companies view leadership.

A quick reminder of what happens when we don’t do this, is Ed Lampert, the CEO of Sears. He established his leadership on the immorality of selfishness and greed, where competition turned Sears into an executive gladiatorial pit. He epitomises the Iron Age Warrior in the Digital Age.

To ask men to change without organisations, corporations and educational institutions changing is ridiculous and condemns men and women to continue to operate in the traditional masculine framework. It ultimately undermines the very intention of achieving gender equality.

The challenge for us, men, is that this will require a personal evolution that will give us a sustainable vision of a future. One where we men have abandoned the old ways.   It is a future where the ethics of relationships underpins everything we do; one that makes us great men, men who are undaunted by having women as equals.

To understand more about the Making Good Men Great Project and become part of it, Gunter runs programs that help you to align yourself to what really matters as men in the 21st century.

Come and visit www.goodmengreat.com and become part of the solution.

To set up an exploratory conversation, contact rebecca@goodmengreat.com.