Why I Chose to Speak Out Against YPO: Blatant Sexism is Never Okay
As a mountaineer and polar explorer, I deal with sub-zero temperatures, hurricane-force winds and altitude that would make an airplane dizzy. I know how to “suck it up” and keep going even when I am discouraged, intimidated, freezing and exhausted. I am used to being uncomfortable; it goes with the territory. Spending time in challenging environments has taught me a lot about leadership over the years, and I earn a living sharing those lessons as an author and keynote speaker. By some stroke of luck, I managed to get one of the world’s largest speakers bureaus (Keppler Speakers) to represent me and have been their most frequently-booked speaker for five years running. I am also privileged to serve as a Senior Fellow at Duke’s Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics and on the faculty of the Thayer Leader Development Group (TLDG) at West Point, an executive education program that shares West Point leadership best-practices with corporate executives. Between my TLDG programs and my corporate keynotes, I deliver more than 100 speeches each year and have addressed audiences ranging from Fortune 500 companies to professional sports teams to the World Economic Forum at Davos. Needless to say, I am also used to standing up in front of audiences that are very male-dominated — that goes with the territory too.
What I am not used to, are events where blatant sexism with a massive exclamation point is on display, which is what I witnessed at a regional YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) meeting in Florida where I was scheduled to deliver the closing keynote.The organization had hired naked women to parade around at a business event, which was inappropriate for sure, but what made it downright disturbing was that the women were carrying paint palettes and brushes so that men could proudly paint their names on various parts of the women’s bodies. The fact that the event was held at an art museum did not justify any of it. The incident screamed of chauvinism and misogyny and I wondered how this type of entertainment ever got the green light (especially given presidential candidate Carly Fiorina was the opening day speaker). I decided I wanted to use my voice (well, my 140 characters on Twitter) to shed light on this incident and find out how others felt about it. I tweeted the incriminating photos, and within seconds the social media-sphere shook it’s virtual head in disapproval and demanded answers from YPO.
Last week Fortune.com printed my account of what happened that night, and thus began the call for YPO to explain themselves. Scott Mordell, CEO of YPO responded to the initial criticism via twitter:
Of course his response caused further outrage and signaled that he, as the leader of the organization, clearly didn’t get it. Having men paint on naked women wasn’t a poor choice simply because I (a woman) was speaking at the meeting or because there were female spouses present; it was a poor choice because it’s a cultural clash with the organization’s mission and values. Their website provides the following description: “Founded in 1950, YPO today provides 23,000 peers and their families in more than 130 countries with access to unique educational and networking experiences designed to support their business, community and personal leadership.” The description also mentions the organization is focused on “enriching each member’s lifelong journey of leadership, growth and significance.” How did painting on women’s bodies accomplish this?
After several days of twitter backlash targeting YPO in response to the photos I posted, I received a phone call from a very polite gentleman who wanted to explain the backstory on why these naked women were part of the event so that I would better understand why they chose to do this. I was all ears. He told me that the entertainment committee consisted of five people and was made up of both men and women. He then explained that they viewed these women as human canvases and that painting on their naked bodies was a way to display “artwork.” And because the event was at an art museum, it seemed like a good fit. He acknowledged that I was not the only one who felt uncomfortable there, and in hindsight they “probably should have given everyone a head’s up about what to expect at the event that night.” Wrong again YPO! In hindsight, you shouldn’t have planned “entertainment” that was offensive, demeaning and completely inappropriate.
I appreciated that he got in touch to explain YPO’s side of things, but the bottom line is that allowing this type of thing to go on showed poor judgment. And the excuse of “it was all about art” doesn’t really cut it. These are our nation’s business leaders. And they are responsible for mentoring and championing up-and-coming leaders — including women. With hundreds of YPO members in attendance that evening, I find it incredulous that no one stepped up to say, “This kind of thing cannot go on here and we need to shut this down pronto!” Had this been a group of military leaders the story would have made national headlines, and punishment would have been hard and swift. Why do we hold business leaders to a lesser standard? Why do we let them off the (tail)hook?
One of the many leadership principles I mention in my book On The Edge is that one person’s poor judgment can cause harm to the entire team. It’s important to think about how your actions and decisions will affect everyone around you and not just you. This is true on a big Himalayan peak and it’s true in the business world. Luckily, this regional YPO group wasn’t scaling Mt. Everest (those naked women would have been awfully cold), and this error in judgment is one from which the organization as a whole can recover, if they’re willing to make some sweeping changes. The female members of YPO (which make up less than 8% of membership) have already come forward to demand that change start now. They penned a letter to their executive leadership and outlined what needs to be done in order to make YPO the inclusive, diverse and supportive organization that it should be (I’ve seen the contents of the letter and thought it was brilliant). Let’s hope that their voices are heard and that some lessons have been learned (if members want to display their artistic talents — perhaps go with a wall mural next time).
Although I was outraged by what I saw at the art museum that night, I am still a fan of the organization. Why? Because I believe in their mission. I admire and respect the members whom I’ve met over the years and value my relationships with them. Other than this latest experience, the events at which I have spoken have been professional, creative, and highly thought-provoking. And while I have not been contacted by any of the executive officers of YPO, I have had many members (who were not involved in the museum event) reach out to me to apologize. People make mistakes. It happens. We learn, we move on and hopefully we’re better and wiser.
It’s not too late to make a course correction, YPO. So if you’re serious about your goal of “enriching each member’s lifelong journey of leadership, growth and significance,” you’ll listen to your female members (and outraged non-members) who have made it clear that events that are demeaning to women will not be tolerated. It’s time to retire your paintbrushes boys. Because we can’t ‘Lean In’ very far if we have to worry about smearing our “artwork.”
Alison Levine served as the team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition, has climbed the Seven Summits, and skied to both the North and South Poles. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments.
This article originally appeared on MariaShriver.com
