You may be aware that organizations in the top quartile for management diversity outperform their industry mean by 35%*. Did you realize that diverse leaders are also more likely to build an environment of inclusion and belonging? In a world of mixed office and remote working, of volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity, having good enough leaders will not be good enough. The great leaders we need may also be the diverse leaders we need.
In the 100+ interviews conducted for the Hedley May Belonging Project we were given numerous examples of the usual good leadership traits around purpose, engagement and alignment to strategy. But what we noticed was that the diverse leaders did not stop there in building a strong culture. They looked beyond these traditional qualities. It was these findings about great leadership that particularly struck us.
We found:
By bringing diversity into your leadership cohort you will encourage a more inclusive environment, leading to a stronger sense of Belonging. Individuals are more likely to believe that they can bring their full selves to work if there is no “ideal mold” they must fit. This belief is forged by their leaders.
At Hedley May, we continue to make a deliberate effort to find candidates across all measures of diversity. We believe that they add something to an organization that reaches beyond financial metrics. It is exciting to see that our Belonging research bears this theory out.
Diversity generates diversity.
* https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter A 2015 McKinsey report on 366 public companies found that those in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean, and those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely to have returns above the industry mean.