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SBS managing director Michael Ebeid thought he couldn’t be successful if he was out and proud.
“WHEN I was in my early twenties I was absolutely terrified at work that people would find out I was gay. I used up so much energy worrying about that and hiding it and making up stories and all that sort of stuff.”
It’s a startling statement from one of Australia’s corporate leaders Michael Ebeid CEO and Managing Director of public broadcaster SBS. But for the Egyptian born, Australian raised executive who spent most of his early career in the closet the road to corporate success wasn’t always easy.
“When I graduated from uni I couldn’t have dreamt of seeing CEOs who are out and proud and saying I’m a gay CEO and I think that’s really important that there is that visibility for people so they don’t think that there is no hope.”
Speaking at the Australian Marriage Equality CEO Breakfast Mr Ebeid said that being a CEO comes with the responsibility of being a role model and showing young people that you can be openly gay and be a business leader.
SBS managing director Michael Ebeid spent most of his early career in the closet.Source:News Corp Australia
“So many times young people do grow up having it beaten into them that they will never get far in life. I was certainly told that when I confided in somebody, (they said) ‘Oh, well don’t expect to go far in your career.’”
From a personal point of view when Mr Ebeid had a supportive work environment it gave him the freedom to be himself and it meant he could put the majority of his energy into work. “It allows you to just focus on your job and not worry about what others are going to think, because what others think matters when you are starting off in a new career because it can affect your promotional levels.”
Mr Ebeid’s success also shows that acceptance and diversity are two keys to making it in business. It’s about having the freedom to be authentic in all aspects of your life, including marriage equality and this in turn is a good thing for business, productivity and the economy.
Mr Ebeid said employees need to feel comfortable in bringing their “whole self “ to work so they can be confident in putting their ideas forward and not be concerned about being the target of prejudice or discrimination. This why the issue of marriage equality and reform is so important on a business level. “I’ve seen over and over throughout my career that people who do bring their whole self to work are far more productive. They’re not worried about whether they can or can’t bring their partner to a work function,” he said.
Boosting productivity has been a difficult issue for corporate Australia, but Mr Ebeid believes that passing same-sex marriage would have a huge impact on raising productivity levels in all areas of business because it would lessen the human cost. He said that because the law doesn’t accept same-sex marriage there is a subconscious bias that means sometimes people see a same-sex relationship as less valuable than a couple who is married. It is this which weighs heavily on those who want to have their relationship formally recognised but can’t.
“That’s why marriage equality is very important for corporations, so that people don’t feel that they are a second-class citizen. At the moment the law allows that to happen. Society is saying to these people your partnership with your life partner is second rate, we are discriminating against them,” he said.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, who is also openly gay.Source:News Corp Australia
Marriage equality and its importance to business is something echoed by Mr Ebeid’s counterpart, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce who is also openly gay.
Speaking at the breakfast Mr Joyce said Australia is losing talent because it hasn’t progressed same-sex marriage. He said people who are in long term relationships move overseas to where their union is recognised. He also pointed out that it has been difficult at times to lure overseas talent who were in same-sex relationships to Australia because the law here had not been changed.
Writer Whitney Fitzsimmons.Source:Supplied
Whitney Fitzsimmons is a freelance journalist and TV presenter. She is a former ABC senior journalist and newsreader and presenter of Business Today on ABC News 24. Follow Whitney on Twitter @whitfitzsimmons
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