The 50% CEO Playbook

getting to proportionate representation in the top job and why it matters.

A Playbook for change created by Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership.

Foreword

We’ve come a long way in the past Century, thanks to the many pioneering women before us who fought for the vote, for equal pay and for the many other rights that we are now able to take for granted.

But we are not done yet. There is no shortage of data that demonstrates the gender inequalities that persist in business. Year after year, surveys from highly-respected institutions including Harvard Business Review, McKinsey, the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, Cranfield or, closer to home, the Advertising Association, the IPA and ISBA, reveal stubborn inequalities between men and women1 in the workplace, including career progression, working patterns, pay and representation. Gaps in representation often start early, as soon as promotions kick in2, but then grow wider the further up an organisation you look – the so-called glass pyramid effect. For example, within our own industry, although 70% of the industry’s junior manager cohort are women, by the time you get to the C-Suite, only 37.5% of roles are taken by women3 .

WACL’s purpose is to accelerate gender equality in our industry. 2023 is our Centenary year so it is fitting that while we will be celebrating the remarkable achievements of the female trailblazers within our industry, we are also looking to the future.

WACL President 2022-23 and CEO, Quiet Storm

1 NOTE: throughout this document we use ‘men’ and ‘women’ because that is how the data we have drawn on defines gender. This is not intended to exclude non-binary people, or those who otherwise do not identify as men or women, but as our best effort to articulate clearly the goal for greater equality

2 https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace

3 IPA Census 2022