Time for corporate leaders to get serious about diversity efforts

James Carville's famous slogan, "It's the economy, stupid," is still commonly used when the answer to a question is staring you right in the face. The question Carville was addressing was what the 1992 Clinton campaign should focus on. This was during a time of recession and burgeoning conflict in the Middle East. It was obvious to him that the way to win over Americans in a time of scarcity and uncertainty was to focus on the economy. The question for us now is what should leaders focus on to improve their outcomes? The answer to that, dear readers, is to embrace the power of diversity (stupid).

The word "diversity" is commonly associated with differences in skin color and gender. That narrow view has become politicized and maligned by those who characterize it as "reverse racism," often expressed by people who are comfortable with the way things are. Skin color and gender are facets of diversity — and significant ones at that as those attributes have led to thousands of years of discrimination and oppression.

To take a more encompassing view, diversity is not only physical diversity, but gifts differing in intellectual, experiential, spiritual and educational diversity. We are unique beings on this planet. Diversity is not a threat, but our collective superpower: When separate parts are combined, they create a greater whole.

Why isn't this obvious to those who lead? Because despite our diversity, we all have one trait in common, and that is self-preservation. Leaders often have more eyes on them than others and are expected to "get results." Being open to ways of thinking that are different from our own can feel scary, and can threaten a leader's sense of confidence and control. Some leaders equate obedience with power, surrounding themselves with "yes people" — people who look and think like them.

This approach poses a few problems. Having people around you that are like-minded increases feelings of security, but it limits outcomes to what that one leader can think of, and even worse, deprives the organization of realizing the full potential of the people that comprise it.

This too often results in organizations that are mediocre and filled with people who are too scared to embrace their own unique abilities. In worst cases, it leads to disasters because of the suppression of people who "won't get on the bus."

The classic cases of the Toyota acceleration and brake recalls in 2009; the Target data breach in 2013; the Volkswagen diesel scandal in 2015; and the fraudulent accounts at Wells Fargo that broke in 2016 all had involved people who were discouraged from expressing different opinions from the leaders. People who were willing to speak up were buried in the organization or pushed out.

The more common harm that an absence of diversity brings is disengagement and mediocrity — which result in the same old same old. Diversity is rocket fuel for innovation, combining and building on what we have already learned. Constructive debate forces people out of their comfort zones and inspires people to think of new and better ways of doing things. Comfort zones lead to stagnation. Outcomes cannot be improved with everyone being comfortable.

If you truly want to improve outcomes, look around: Do you have people who are willing to disagree with you? Do you have people that look different from you in terms of color, gender and age? Do you foster constructive debate? Do you provide a clear vision and purpose for what you are trying to achieve? Are you achieving the results you want?

If you answered "no" to any of those questions, then see this as a prompt to increase the diversity of your team. It will separate you from being a status-quo leader — just one of many mediocre leaders who didn't really make a difference — to one people know will get results and be remembered as transformational.

Calling people "stupid" is unkind, but when something that can elevate the organization you lead is so attainable, what other word would suffice?

Sarah Nesset is the owner of Sophrosyne, LLC, a management consulting firm based in Minnetonka. She can be reached at sarah.nesset@change-better.com