Opinion: Role models are key to helping narrow the gap

I am delighted that Retail Week has decided to get behind this challenge, particularly because the team has chosen to focus on role models and run Be Inspired as a year-long campaign.

I believe role models are key to helping narrow ‘the gap’. A campaign like Be Inspired is not reliant on the actions of the government or business as a whole to make change happen – we can all drive this ourselves. To make this happen, we need to have visible role models at the top of organisations but equally have women at all levels inspiring and supporting those below them while learning from those above. Role models come in many guises and certainly do not need to be confined to retail, or even the world of work for that matter.

So what is a role model and what makes a good one?

I found a number of definitions: ‘someone worthy of imitation’; ‘an individual who is looked up to’; ‘a person who inspires others to imitate their good behaviour’. All these things ring very true, but for me another key attribute is to be visible. Visibility within your own organisation and in the industry as a whole, along with a certain degree of accessibility, gives you an opportunity to inspire further afield and on a larger scale.

I love the honesty and straightforward approach from great role models like Jacqueline Gold and Karen Brady. Equally, I highly value the time, often over a drink at the end of a full day, that chief executive officers such as Liz Evans, Meg Lustman and Beth Butterwick are willing to give me to discuss challenges and explore ideas. What an opportunity this campaign gives us all to be inspired by those above us while inspiring those coming up quickly behind.

• Wendy Hallett is the founder of Hallett Retail and an ambassador of Retail Week’s Be Inspired campaign. For further information on the initiative click here.