Men's groups at work

Why they matter

Jack from Vaynermedia reached out to me about chatting to their men’s group.

He’d recently set up a men’s group at work, it was a big deal, something he was passionate about doing.

I jumped on a virtual call with a few of the team there, a mix of different men in the business. Straight away, I felt energy, it was interesting intellectually and powerful to talk to a group of other men who’d come together around the same themes.

Before I go into the themes themselves, of why spaces for men matter, why talking with groups of men matters. There’s something even more symbolic than the talking itself.

Picture this. A man in a business, requesting permission from their HR/People Team (likely to be mostly women) to create a men’s group, for men only. This. This alone. Is big. Men putting their hands up, perhaps nervously and saying “what about us?” “We have things to address and need our own space to do it”

It’s likely that in a business many other groups or networks exist for various different communities. But a men’s group? Not always. An acknowledgment that men, are a group with their own complex issues and dynamics who deserve a safe space to address and work through them - that’s important.

I didn’t know I was all in for men’s groups at work, but I really am.

Now, getting into the chat - it was a confidential space, but I can tell you it felt good for me to be in there.

It felt good to be around other men who think like me:

• men who care about their mental health

• men who question male culture and stereotypical male roles

• men who care about women and stand against misogyny

• men who feel that in their male only spaces, they’re in the minority as conscious enlightened men

I felt connected to a group of men, who like me, want change in some form. Change of themselves, change of culture, growth, change, evolution. That felt good.

Being around a group of likeminded men, everything felt possible.

I can see a world where businesses empower the evolution of male culture and play a positive role in men’s lives. I’d love to hear people’s experiences of being a man in the workplace and if you feel like you’d benefit from a space like this. Or, if you have one already.

Cheers,
James x