About a month ago, I completed 12 years in my current organisation. This is a thread I wanted to put up then. I couldn’t because I just wasn’t in a mind space to do so. But I will now.

As I delve deeper into my own experiences as a woman in a corporate environment, I’ve realised some things. This correspond when what I’ve found when working on matters of diversity, equity and inclusion as well.

As someone who joined the organisation as a very junior assistant, I can tell you that your career growth is almost entirely in your hands. Good managers and good organisations can help. But they can’t drive your growth. You need to ask for what you want. And I don’t mean money.

Ending up with a good manager is so important to your career that literally nothing else can replace it. And these managers can encourage, mentor and support in a way nobody else can.

This brings me to what I want to reiterate. The role of men as managers, leaders, mentors and most importantly, allies. It’s a fact that you cannot work exclusively with women. It’s neither practical nor even advisable. It’s takes all kinds to make a career.

Male allies can go a long way in making your work life productive and memorable. A male ally can back you up when you need it. He can be your fiercest supporter and your most vehement critic. But most important, he needs to be a person of some influence and authority.

A male ally cannot be a peer or a subordinate. This could be your manager. Or another senior leader. Or a mentor. In other words, your male ally will be your backbone. Now, why is this important? Because the hard truth is that women occupy less than 5% of boardroom positions.

While talk of sisterhood and women supporting women is all very nice, the remaining 95% of your leadership are men. If you really want to grow, you need their support. Just women mentors and supporters can take you thus far and no further.

Because they are themselves victims of a glass ceiling. Now, let me talk about my personal experience. At every stage in my career, I’ve worked with men who supported me and trusted me. Specifically, one of them trusted me to do something I didn’t consider myself qualified to do.

Without his confidence and trust in me, I’d have remained an assistant. Stuck in a dead end job with no growth prospects except in salary. This support is a two way street. As I said before, unless you reach out and ask for what you want, they won’t be able to help.

So, next time you preach about women supporting women, remember this. Having a male ally is important. Because they can champion your cause, support you, mentor you and elevate you to a level entirely different from what you aspire to be.

On that note, a word of thanks. To that one man (I hope he sees this!) to whom I owe almost my whole career. And to the men after him who’ve remained by my side, supporting me, being my champions and trusting me. /End/