In recent months, there have been numerous high profile news stories shining a light on the lack of gender equality that still exists across many industries. However, this has also brought about healthy discussion of how gender diversity can lead to success in the business world. In 2017, McKinsey reported that mixed-gender boards are 15% more likely to deliver above average profitability.

To celebrate International Women’s Day this month (8 March), Genoa Black is offering a free kick-off meeting to Scotland House members, with the aim of supporting and adding value to fellow member businesses by boosting their marketing strategy in 2018.

Women hold only 15% of board seats and 4% of CEO and Chair positions worldwide. This is certainly not the case at Genoa Black. Women make up 71% of the company and 80% of the Senior Management Team.

Genoa Black works in close partnership with ambitious businesses to help them understand how they can create value for their customers and develop and deliver breakthrough-marketing strategies. Successfully working closely and collaboratively with clients involves a sensitive balance of consideration, cogency and confidence. The women in our team are adept in carefully listening and pinpointing the untapped value that businesses truly offer to their customers. With astute communication skills, a strategic approach and emotional intelligence, our female team members are capable of working with any group of people, in any sector, to decipher the value within a business.

With women at all levels of the business, from Graduates to Directors, Genoa Black has found that there is a certain emotional intelligence and cultural awareness that women bring to the business environment. The delivery of projects by our majority female leaders and project teams has led directly to Genoa Black being recommended on the Recommended Agency Register (RAR) for a third year in succession. This time, our clients have recommended us across 18 categories with an unbelievable 203 independent client ratings, scoring an average of 9/10.

Most SME’s respond very positively to the women in our team. We take the time to understand the needs of the people in the businesses we work with, which in turn helps us to understand their business needs. This approach results in strong relationships and high levels of trust. While there is evidence that diverse senior management can lead to increased profits, it is often the ability of our female team members to carefully listen to the needs of the client and respectfully challenge conventional thinking to cut through to the heart of their business problem, that drives the added value we offer to clients.

Clearly, it is not whether you are a man or a woman, but rather the combined value of what you bring to the table and the flexibility of your business to empower your teams. In our experience, the optimal combined value that someone can offer is a mix of technical capability and experience, emotional intelligence, cultural awareness and confidence.

At Genoa Black, we hope to help our clients to breakthrough their marketing ambitions and inspire women to breakthrough limitations to their aspirations, goals and capabilities. We are lucky to have a diverse, brilliant, and experienced (mostly female) senior team and we proudly share the benefits of Genoa Black’s strong female leadership with every business we work with.

As such, we are offering complimentary kick off meetings for all Scotland House members. Get in touch today to see how we can help your business to breakthrough in 2018.