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InView November 2010 Issue
Seven Moves To Help Your Association Reap the Benefits of Diversity and Inclusion
By Redia Anderson and Lenora Billings-Harris, CSP
The world is one big marketplace. In it, associations and other nonprofits and companies of all shapes and sizes are vying for more diverse members and customers from diverse cultures. The organizations that will prosper understand that in order to stay open for business, they must mine their staffs' own diverse perspectives to differentiate themselves from their competition, define who they really are, and increase their relevancy. And to be truly effective, this engagement must start at the top.
The bottom line is that today's members, donors, clients, customers, and coworkers expect innovative solutions in response to pressing business and professional issues. The "we've always done it that way" line of thinking must be eliminated. In almost every situation where CEO commitment exists, an organizational culture of curiosity, appreciation, and resolve to apply the lessons from a diverse and inclusive workforce will rise. Combined with supporting infrastructure (communications, education, accountability, and metrics) CEO commitment has created awareness that has raised the importance of inclusion and diversity as a strategic business imperative, one that provides tangible results for organizations. What the executive director says, focuses on, and communicates to the rest of the association becomes the cornerstone of what is measured and thus considered most important to success.
The best executive directors recognize the importance of including diverse perspectives, thoughts, and approaches to problem solving in the way their organizations function. They see how diversity and inclusion can bring innovation and positive impact to their associations and nonprofits, and they make sure everyone, from staff to volunteer, understands these same principles and acts on them on a daily basis.
As a leader and manager, what are some of the things you can do to "walk the walk and talk the talk" regarding inclusion and diversity? Here are seven actions CEOs can take to begin to influence the culture and overtly show their clear intent regarding these objectives.
Share your stories. Your personal experiences of difference, as well as stories in which you're keenly aware of being included, make strong statements about how willing you are to be transparent and learn from others. You must give to get, so talk about your experiences. What did it feel like when you were the only one-the only woman, person of color, person over a certain age-at a major business function? What was going through your head at the time? What biases and assumptions did you have to overcome, if any, to participate fully? How accepting were others of you, and what did that do for you? What did you learn about yourself?"
Become an active mentor. Get to know three high-potential staff who come from a different background from your own. Keep it informal; have coffee or go to lunch. Tell them what you'd like to learn about. Be open to their experiences and suspend your own judgment. Reverse mentoring is also likely to occur, so remain open to letting it happen. You'll be grateful for what you can learn from your mentees.
Support your organization's staff and employee resource groups. Become an executive liaison for the group. Or, if that assignment has been filled, regularly attend and support their functions. These groups can be an incubator of leadership talent, so get to know their leaders and nurture them into your organization's leadership ranks.
Get diversity on the operations meeting agenda. Make inclusion and diversity updates a standing agenda item at your regular board and staff meetings. Set and provide clear expectations of advancement and consequences. Reward and communicate progress broadly. Recognize that, when the organization sees and hears little, they assume nothing is happening, so communicate often to let them know about everything that is indeed happening.
Speak it. Seek opportunities to include messages of the imperative and the impact of inclusion and diversity to your association's bottom line in every speech you give and every meeting you hold, both internally and externally. Work to proactively brand your association as an inclusive employer, one that respects the broad definition of diversity and believes in the value of an inclusive and inviting culture.
Build diverse leadership teams. As key assignments, projects, and volunteer candidate slate opportunities arise, ensure that you're consciously encouraging the broadest, best, and most diverse perspectives to solve member issues.
Monitor, measure, and reward evidence of inclusion and diversity progress. Utilize the performance management system as well as your organization's rewards and recognition programs to emphasize progress. Don't wait for perfection before rewarding changed behavior. This is a long-term shift. Creatively recognize staff members; this may mean an extra day or two of paid time off, theater tickets, dinner for two at local restaurant, or a simple thank-you note handwritten by board leaders. All of these methods convey a message of respect and recognition for results.
Today, business as usual simply will not cut it. Members want innovative, outside-the-box solutions. To achieve these ideas, you need to have a diverse team in place that is constantly being engaged and appreciated by all senior leaders and especially the CEO. The executive directors who lead their associations to sustained success are staunch advocates of inclusion, fairness, and results that reflect the organization's mission and values. They communicate their convictions and expectations regarding inclusion and diversity every day, in every way, just like they do for all of their objectives, through all the communication vehicles at their disposal. They measure progress, and they get results.
Redia Anderson and Lenora Billings-Harris, CSP are authors of Trailblazers: How Top Business Leaders Are Accelerating Results Through Inclusion and Diversity (©2010, Wiley). They can be reached through www.AboutTrailblazers.com. Redia Anderson is managing partner of Anderson People Strategies, LLC, and Lenora Billings-Harris is a diversity strategist and international speaker; she is a past president of the National Speakers Association.
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