5 Elements for a Culturally Diverse Business
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5 Elements for a Culturally Diverse Business
One of the most challenging things I've been presented as a business owner, entrepreneur, and CEO, is to recalibrate my understanding of what diversity really means and how it applies to leading an organization in 2022.
I’ve learned and fully accepted that diversity isn't just about demographic composition, representation, and inclusion, it's also about creating and maintaining a culture of diverse and differing opinions and values.
When we started TalentBlvd.com I was determined to build a leadership team representing the markets we intended to serve, specifically looking at representation defined by gender, age, race, orientation, etc. It looked like a fairly straight forward process for a number of reasons.
First, I considered the pool of potential partners for our business. It was large and demographically diverse since I had been coaching, mentoring, and collaborating with dozens of industry professionals for years. Second, I did 'the math'. If 18% of the audience/clients are Black or Asian or Hispanic or Women or Millennial, then 18% of my leadership team needs to follow suit. Done.
The truth is a demographic representation is probably what most think about when they hear the word 'diversity' but that's only half of the definition. It's the 'diversity of opinion' in Webster's definition where we can't seem to bridge gaps. Regardless of the demographic makeup of the team, if we are of homogeneous thought, beliefs, and values, we can't really be diverse.
Be honest... It can be said that Fox News and MSNBC might be demographically diverse but are they representing a diversity of opinion?
What I see too frequently is that companies, both public and private, elevate a BIPOC leader into a senior position and instantly put them out in front in anticipation of gaining diversity credits. In fact, they are addressing representation but in many cases, the new BIPOC executive went to the same Ivy League schools, belongs to the same country club or church, and is likely to be perpetuating the homogenous opinions and values. The fact is that they won't 'make waves' is probably the reason the candidate makes it through the selection process in many organizations.
When it comes to diversity, TalentBlvd has some distinct advantages over others that have been in the TV News and Entertainment industry. First, we have no baggage, no existing relationships, agreements, contracts, or obligations. We haven't been around going about business the same way for the last 30 years like many of our peers. We were able to build a leadership team from the ground up. The second advantage is a big one, HUGE actually. The Founder and CEO has learned from his past mistakes.
They say the definition of experience is the mistakes we have learned from. By that definition, I have A LOT of experience. I'm guilty of hiring and promoting people based on their similar values and opinions. My teams were diverse in demographic, but definitely not of opinion.
Listen, no CEO wants to hire someone that is going to disagree with them and create Boardroom chaos. To manage diverse opinions at that level takes a very high EQ and tremendous patience that most of us feel we have little time for. The time has come for all to make time if we are going to responsibly serve our audience/clients and thrive in 2022.
Advice for leaders responsible for recruiting, training, and managing a diverse workforce
1. Stop looking inside-out and start looking outside-in
We often try to find the right candidate to elevate diversity from within and certainly that has its benefits but many times the opinions, values, and experiences are not diverse. The right candidate should outwardly extend your intellectual reach, not reinforce the existing.
2. Take a 3 I's approach
That means you understand the Issues, Institutions, and Interests of your clients and audience. Our people need to value the differences of our clients/audience's Interests and be able to translate what they mean to our organization.
3. Representation Matters
Do the math at EVERY level of your organization and start looking from the Boardroom down and not the lowest graded position upward. At a minimum, make sure that your employee population represents the markets they serve in all ranges and grade levels.
4. Be accountable
Create goals and metrics. Go public with them and report on them. Hold every manager accountable. Tie compensation to objectives if warranted.
5. Get comfortable making mistakes
None of us are perfect and if we are pushing hard enough to create change, we are going to make a lot of mistakes. In the end, there are three simple pieces to turning mistakes into experience:
- Take accountability.
- Understand what you learned from it.
- Articulate and be public on why it's not going to happen again.
In summary, I've learned to stop seeing diversity as a numbers game. It's about adopting a new lifestyle in the way we approach work and working with each other. It's not tolerance, it's understanding and empathy. It's not just race or gender or age, it's also opinions and values. It's not about perpetuating the club or fraternity, it's about building a team to serve a very diverse audience/clients. It's not our past, this is our future and accordingly we celebrate Women's and Black History Months, February and March 2022
Mike McNamara
Founder and CEO, TalentBlvd