Aviva shows their Size only Amplified their Brand Blunder

Here we are again with another example of a large brand not stepping up to do the right thing when sexism rears its ugly head. Amanda Blanc is the newest and first female CEO of UK’s largest insurance company. While speaking at their annual shareholders' meeting, she was subjected to several sexist remarks by their shareholders. You can read more here. 

The shocking part about this incident is the industry is known to have problems with sexism and yet Aviva did nothing to prevent and support their first female CEO from their sexist shareholders who have now been publicly named. This is definitely a BrandRewind^TM moment and I think it starts with the company itself. Aviva, where is the leadership training on equity and inclusion, guidelines on acceptable behaviours (such as removing micro-aggressions) during meetings and other preparations that you should have had in place? I would also ask why didn’t anyone interject to stop the micro-aggressions when they started? Yes, I know it can be jarring in the moment but the only person who attempted to address it was the Chair and he didn’t do it until the end of the meeting. By allowing behaviours to remain unaddressed sets the meeting’s tone and encourages more of the same by way of complacency. I have to also highlight that the Chair’s reference to ‘inappropriate comments’ doesn’t identify the gravity of the situation nor what is and is not acceptable behaviour going forward. 

Frankly, the comments were unacceptable and insulting to all women. Additional direct conversations and accountability are also needed to address their sexism issues as it affects, not only their current but also future female employees. Finally, the personal brands of the sexist shareholders have been severely tarnished. They need to begin to do their own personal equity and inclusion work and check their facts on gender performance; gender doesn’t’ determine someone’s ability to perform as a CEO or other leadership roles but psychological safety, company culture, equity and inclusion surely do!

Zoe Mitchell is the founder of Sharp Processes,a leadership consultancy focused on improving employee engagement using Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Psychological Safety and Process Improvement best practices with her 20 years of corporate senior leadership positions. She is also the author of Inclusive Leadership Now (available on Amazon).