Imagine you had a boardroom filled with clones.
Identical suits, identical smiles, identical… ideas? Yawn.
While that might sound like a leadership dream (everyone who loves echo chambers agrees!), it’s actually a recipe for mediocrity.
The wizards at McKinsey’s crunched the numbers, and the verdict’s in.
Companies with diverse leadership are banking 21% more dough than the grayscale crowd. It’s a simple equation, really. Diversity equals a smorgasbord of ideas.
You get a rich concoction of problem-solving perspectives and insights to transform problems into opportunities.
Time to color outside the lines!
I recently joined an incredible board with vibrant diverse people from every creed, color, and corner of the globe.
Yet, a question posed to me has prompted reflection: “Were you invited because of your color?”
As a Black woman with over two decades of marketing expertise, this inquiry overlooks my professional achievements, reducing my contributions to merely my skin color. It ignores years of experience, countless campaigns, and proven results.
I’m curious, does every white man on that board get asked if they were invited because of their gender? Probably not.
So, why is the assumption different for women of color? Our value goes beyond our ethnicity; we bring a wealth of expertise, cultural depth, and unique perspectives shaped by our experiences.
The question is often delivered with a casualness that belies its sting. It’s a frustrating microaggression disguised as curiosity, that casts a shadow on achievements and reduces our complex identities to a single shade or gender.
But here’s the truth: that question isn’t about me, it’s about them.
It reflects a bias, an inability to grasp that diversity isn’t tokenism. Diversity harnesses the power of different perspectives, experiences, and voices for success.
Bland boardrooms got you snoozing? You’re not alone.
Your prospects’ palates are likely bored too. Pepper your team with diverse perspectives like this.
Cultural Cumin: Someone from a different background might spot a market opportunity your monoculture team missed.
Generational Ginger: A young whippersnapper might challenge outdated assumptions and spark innovation.
Genderful Garlic: A woman’s voice could offer a unique perspective on product design or marketing strategy.
Diversity is like having a fully-stocked kitchen humming with the aroma of different cultures and cuisines. Don’t just add a pinch of this, a dash of that, or sprinkle a few spices on top like an afterthought. Each ingredient plays a part in creating a delicious and harmonious whole. Let’s open our palates and appreciate the full spectrum of tastes, not just the ones we’re already used to.
Here’s the benefit:
1. Increased Creativity: Different viewpoints lead to more out-of-the-box thinking.
2. Enhanced Decision-Making: A wider range of perspectives leads to better-informed choices.
3. Improved Employee Engagement: Feeling valued and heard boosts morale and productivity.
Here’s how to power progress with diverse perspectives:
1. Embrace the “Messy”: Encourage healthy debate and diverse opinions. Stay curious. Lean into conversations. Don’t shy away from conflict – it can be a catalyst for growth.
2. Seek Out Diverse Talent: Go beyond your usual recruiting channels and actively target underrepresented groups.
3. Empower Diverse Voices: Create opportunities for everyone to share their ideas and perspectives. Invest in inclusion training to help your team understand and appreciate the value of diversity.
Check out more real-world examples.
Sheryl Sandberg stepped into Facebook as its COO in 2008, catalyzing a period of significant transformation for the company, particularly in terms of its business model and revenue growth. Under her dynamic leadership, Facebook experienced remarkable financial growth, driven largely by the development and expansion of its advertising platform.
To gauge the quantitative impact of Sandberg’s leadership, one can examine Facebook’s financial performance before and after her arrival. Upon her joining, Facebook reported revenues of approximately $272 million in 2008. Fast forward to her departure in 2021, and Facebook, now rebranded as Meta Platforms, Inc., boasted nearly $118 billion in revenues for the year. This surge in growth underscores a substantial enhancement in the company’s financial health during her tenure.
Sandberg played a pivotal role in leveraging Facebook’s extensive user base for monetization through targeted advertising. She introduced an array of advertising products tailored to meet the needs of both small businesses and large corporations. By focusing on the creation of a scalable advertising platform, she propelled Facebook to the forefront of the global digital advertising market. Furthermore, Sandberg’s commitment to cultivating a more inclusive and diverse corporate culture has been recognized for its significant contribution to the company’s innovative capabilities and its agility in navigating the evolving digital landscape.
Clearly, Sandberg’s leadership and strategic vision for the company’s business model were instrumental in propelling its growth and profitability. Through her leadership, she firmly established Facebook’s stature as a technological powerhouse and a leading entity in the global advertising arena.
The success of the US Olympic team is a compelling example of the power of diversity in reaching unparalleled heights of achievement. It shows the incredible results that can be achieved when athletes from varied backgrounds and disciplines come together with a singular purpose.
The talent, backgrounds, and life stories could fill a Netflix series – and each individual brings unique strengths, perspectives, and experiences to the fore. Their diversity enriches the team’s skill set. The underlying principle is powerful: uniting these individuals towards a shared objective enables the team to harness a broader spectrum of strengths. Moreover, harnessing a broader spectrum of strategies makes the team more resilient and significantly enhances its competitive edge.
This approach has consistently proven to be a cornerstone of the team’s global dominance, illustrating the transformative power of inclusivity in achieving excellence on the world stage.
Ditch the monochrome. Your business will thank you for it!
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