The two most important words in Rania H. Anderson’s indispensable book are “you” and “specific.”

The “you” is any leader – but perhaps especially men – who works with or supervises women. This is not a book about what institutions should do to become more inclusive and diverse. It is about what you can do to make your workplace more inclusive and diverse – and, in the process, more effective, more profitable, and more successful.

That’s important, because it’s up to you to take the steps needed to ensure gender parity in your workplace. Your heart may have been in the right place for years, and you may well regard yourself as an enlightened manager. But are your top jobs occupied disproportionately by men? Are you sponsoring women the way you sponsor men? Are women commanding equal salaries? Good intentions don’t matter. Actions do.

I am the first to admit that leading change in this area can be challenging, and progress can be maddeningly slow even when an organization does all the right things. That said, the sad fact is that many managers have been too slow to even try to maximize the potential of what Anderson aptly calls “the most underutilized asset the world has” – women.

At a moment when companies are turning themselves inside out to become more agile and innovative, can you really afford to reward old behaviors that stymie half of your potential workforce? When you’re constantly surveying the horizon for new competitors, can you really afford to sideline people whose experiences can expand your vision? When women control $20 trillion of purchasing power, when they drive 70–85% of all consumer purchasing decisions and even buy more cars and consumer electronics than men, can you afford to sit by as your company’s women fail to rise to leadership roles? The answer to each question, of course, is “No.” As Anderson puts it, “Just as we can calculate a return on equity, we can also calculate a return on equality.”

As a business leader, you have the opportunity to change your workplace every day, and this should be your playbook.

That’s where the book’s other critical word – “specific” – comes into play. Many well-intentioned leaders simply don’t know how to drive gender parity. You may not be sure how to begin the process of changing the nature of your workplace so that women have the same opportunities as men. That may seem like such a daunting task.

The specifics in this book demystify the process. Anderson does this in many ways. She explains with great precision the research on what women want from their work and workplace. She creates a framework, called WE 4.0, for how women and men can work equally, share leadership, and succeed together. She gives you a vocabulary and questions to ask to examine your existing practices for signs of unconscious bias. Most importantly, she describes the actions needed at the individual level to build diverse, high- performing teams and equitable work environments. Each chapter includes an invaluable self-assessment checklist, a set of tasks to get you started, and examples from people who have tackled this problem in their own workplaces.

Anderson’s examples are drawn from her extensive work helping leaders around the world with their efforts to create workplaces where women can thrive. The examples are unique and yet relatable, like the Jordanian investor who stands out by backing companies run by Arab women; the GE leader who sponsors a female employee by throwing the most critical tasks her way; or the one woman in a four-partner group who finally insisted that the men share in the administrative tasks they kept unconsciously passing off onto her. I found that many of her examples highlighted complicated work scenarios similar to ones I have encountered during my own career, and I’m sure you will as well.

Gender equity has been increasing on the agenda of many companies over the past several years, thanks in part to women (and some men) calling out the biases – and sometimes egregious behaviors – that have prevented many women from reaching their full potential. This book takes what too many leaders see as an intractable challenge and provides clear, step-by-step recommendations on how to address the underlying issues.

I hope that Anderson’s readers will lead the process of truly changing our workplaces into gender-equal environments. Sure, it’s time, and sure, it’s the right thing to do. But as someone who regularly engages with the CEOs of the world’s most valuable companies, I see the real cost of the status quo: an enormous waste of economic, intellectual, and innovative potential.

Put simply, you cannot win without a workplace where women and men have equal opportunities, equal input, and equal power. Anderson points out that creating such a workplace is a broader, more ambitious goal than creating a workplace where women “fit in.” But true gender equality is the goal we should all be striving for. In a world where women represent 50% or more of the outstanding talent, anything less is an abdication of your fiduciary responsibility.

Rania Anderson’s remarkably lucid book is a subtle gem. It is so straightforward, so honest, and, yes, so specific. The subject it tackles is enormous, global, and complicated. And yet, when I read this slender volume, the truly equitable workplace seems more of a possibility than ever, a vision within reach rather than an impossible dream. It’s a vision that won’t come to be without your active leadership and participation. Cracking open this book was a great first step. Good luck with the rest of the journey. With Rania Anderson as your guide, I’m sure it will be illuminating, productive, inspiring and, ultimately, profitable.

June 14, 2018