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This technical note was prepared by Martin N. Davidson, Associate Professor of Business Administration. It was written as a basis for class discussion. Copyright © 2000 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. The author thanks Rachel Bagby, James Clawson, Joseph Harder, C. V. Harquail, and Heather Wishik for helpful comments. To order copies, send an e-mail to [email protected]. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation. Rev. 12/00.

LEADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: CRITICAL SKILLS FOR LEADING A DIVERSE WORKFORCE

You can’t excel as a leader in today’s global economy if you can’t skillfully lead diverse groups of people, many of whom are different from you in significant ways. As more traditional organizations adapt to the demands of global business, the most successful leaders of these organizations are adapting as well. Many of the traditional core competencies of leadership remain central to the success of these leaders—articulating vision, inspiring and motivating subordinates, and maintaining integrity in relationships. But the increasing diversity of the people in these organizations is compelling leaders to grapple with questions they didn’t have to deal with only a generation ago: How do I make my organization more diverse? How do I leverage the benefits that are supposed to be a product of diverse perspectives? Is there an “uneven playing field” in my organization? How do I manage diversity-related governmental requirements such as affirmative action? How do I manage the conflicts that arise due to differences?

Leaders who are effective in organizations that value (or aspire to value) diversity possess a distinct set of characteristics and skills. This note describes some of those characteristics and skills and culls the best practices of several leaders who are creating competitive advantage from diversity.

Key Characteristics of Effective Leaders of Diversity

Ability to articulate the business case for diversity

Effective leaders embody and communicate a vision for the organization that is compelling for the members of that organization. In diverse organizations,1 that vision has as

1 I will use the term “diverse organizations” to mean organizations comprised of individuals who differ from one another along a variety of dimensions including but not limited to race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, and physical ability.

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part of its foundation an explicit understanding of the business case for diversity for that organization. In their classic article on diversity as a competitive advantage, Cox and Blake outline several domains in which competitive advantage should derive from explicitly valuing the diversity in an organization. These domains include: (1) enhanced skill in entering untapped markets; (2) innovation and creativity flowing from new perspectives; and (3) increased ability to adapt to changing environments.2

In order for an organization to truly leverage its diversity, that diversity must position the organization to manifest its mission and accomplish its goals more effectively. Effective leaders in diverse organizations articulate precisely how diversity will help the organization succeed in its core businesses. By analyzing their business in this way, these leaders are prepared to articulate the long-term benefits and challenges of the diversity within their organizations. Honeywell’s vice-president of Corporate Diversity and Multicultural Business Affairs, Patsy Randell, summarizes the importance of making a business case for diversity:

We want to make sure we are thinking and executing from a multicultural perspective on all levels—internally, externally, domestically, and internationally. Multiculturalism recognizes that diversity is broad; it touches talent, customers, suppliers, relationships in general, and the work environment and company culture. These components tie this directly to business strategy and practices.3

Commitment to fairness

Effective leaders in diverse organizations exhibit a strong ethical commitment to fairness. In essence, these leaders believe strongly that they want a “level playing field” in their organizations. Pragmatically, since they have defined the business case for diversity, they believe that a true meritocracy emerges when all people within the organization have a fair chance to contribute to the goals of the business. But even more profound is the notion that if inequities do exist in the organization, they must be eradicated as effectively as possible because it is the right thing to do. Leaders who champion diversity invariably reveal an ethical commitment to fairness that does not allow them to tolerate easily the inequities that often accompany differences in organizations.4

One successful leader, Henry B. Schacht, CEO of Lucent Technologies, describes his experience:

I came from very modest means, a single parent, and was given the opportunity to achieve the best, limited only by my ability. I think that a human being should

2 T. H. Cox, Jr. and S. Blake, “Managing Cultural Diversity: Implications for Organizational Competitiveness,” Academy of Management Executive 5 (1991): 45–56.

3 Ibid. 4 J. R. Meindl and K. J. Thompson, “Justice and Leadership: A Social Co-Constructionist Agenda,” Current

Societal Concerns about Justice: Critical Issues in Social Justice, (New York, NY: Plenum Press, 1996), 137–153.

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have an equal chance at the starting line independent of their monetary circumstances and independent of their package size. What has to be controlling is your ability to do whatever the task better than the next person.5

Commitment to fairness, such as that articulated by Schacht, is grounded in concrete and personal experience, not simply in an abstract idea. One interesting observation about leaders who manage diverse organizations well is that they often have profound personal experiences of injustice. Sometimes that experience comes vicariously as when someone with whom they are in a relationship is harmed.6 But an even more powerful motivator is the personal experience of being different and being mistreated at some point in life because of that difference. Whatever the dimension of difference, these leaders learn from their experience of being different from the norm.

Willingness to learn about specific dimensions of difference

Effective leaders of diverse organizations are educated about the dimensions of difference that are relevant to the people in their organizations. This education stems from at least two sources. First, these leaders gather data about the experiences and perspectives of their diverse employees. They accomplish this by attending classes and training programs, conducting personal research, and discussing critical issues around differences with knowledgeable individuals.

Second, these leaders cultivate relationships with people who are different from them. This process serves both to offer insight into general information about the difference (akin to straightforward educational discussion) and to create an interpersonal bond that allows the leader to engage the issues around difference in more depth. These relationships are often catalysts for leaders to learn about and understand the inequities in their organization, as well to understand the painful impact of these inequities upon the people in the organization.

Ability to develop diverse members in the organization

Because they are experienced in creating relationships with people who are different, effective leaders of diverse organizations are able to develop individuals who are different from them with the same skill they use to develop individuals similar to them. There are three stages to this developmental technique: identifying promising individuals, mentoring those individuals, and actively creating a supportive environment in which those individuals may thrive.

First, effective leaders find talent. They are able to do so because they reject attitudes that prejudge any individual as less or more talented based solely on identity characteristics like gender, national origin, or race. Rather, as part of their training on dimensions of difference, these leaders have identified some of the fallacies that hinder fair evaluation of talent (e.g., women aren’t assertive enough to lead men), and they can set them aside.

5 Personal interview with Henry B. Schacht.

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But success in identifying talent does not stem solely from an attitudinal shift. Effective leaders also recognize that homogeneous organizations need an influx of diverse members and that one must look to diverse sources to find those members. When an electronics company sought to increase the number of African American engineers in its workforce, its leaders tapped Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); a source the company had not paid attention to previously.

The second way in which these leaders develop talented individuals is through mentoring, the dynamic process between two individuals consisting of activities and interactions related to work, skill acquisition, and social or emotional aspects of functioning and thriving in the organization. Mentoring is an important process of training and preparation that generates successful outcomes, including increased salaries, greater numbers of promotions, greater access to resources, and higher levels of job satisfaction.6 Mentoring across difference—choosing to mentor a junior colleague who is dissimilar to the mentor—is more difficult than mentoring someone who is similar. The challenges of negotiating a professional relationship with someone who may have very different attitudes, values, and worldviews are significant and the outcomes can be disheartening. Protégés who are members of minority groups in the organization may leave the organization in spite of the mentor’s support, an action that may leave the mentor feeling unappreciated or betrayed. Nevertheless, effective leaders take this risk because they understand that when leaders mentor protégés different from themselves, it increases the protégé’s chances for success in their socio-political adjustment in the organization.7 This in turns furnishes the organization with diverse talent and perspectives.

Third, effective leaders prepare the way for their protégés by using their power as a leader to influence the environment in which the protégé operates.8 One savvy CEO, wary of the prospect of his protégée trying to succeed as a single racial token in his management team, identified and persuaded another talented individual of the same race to join the team. This made the environment more conducive to success for both individuals as well as for the entire team.9 Although it could be argued that one more person of similar racial background is an inadequate remedy in this case, the example demonstrates the leader’s awareness that situational factors like size of the minority group, organizational climate, and team norms can affect the likelihood of success for protégés entering organizational systems where the protégé is distinctive.

6 G. F. Dreher and R. A. Ash, “A Comparative Study of Mentoring among Men and Women in Managerial, Professional, and Technical Positions,” Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (1990): 539–546.

7 D. A. Thomas, “Racial Dynamics in Cross-Race Developmental Relationships,” Administrative Science Quarterly 38 (1993): 169–194.

8 B. R. Ragins, “Diversity, Power, and Mentorship in Organizations: A Cultural, Structural, and Behavioral Perspective,” Diversity in Organizations: New Perspectives for a Changing Workplace (Thousand Oaks, CA.: SAGE Publications, 1995), 91–132.

9 Personal communication from Richard Orange.

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Critical Skills for the Leaders of Diverse Organizations10

Effective leaders in diverse organizations have cultivated a core set of managerial skills that aid them in managing the diversity of their employees’ experiences well. If we were to extrapolate from the examples discussed, six skills stand out as critical to success in leading diverse organizations.

Shifting frame of reference

Effective leaders of diverse organizations are empathic, and, as was noted in the discussion of learning about differences, they are skilled at putting themselves in another person’s position or shifting frames of reference. As a starting point for building this competence, you can attend events and engage in activities where the culture and customs are different from your normal ones. Some people experience this when they travel to countries outside of the United States, but you can accomplish such immersion simply by attending a religious service that is different from your own or look for local events where the themes emphasize the differences in which you are interested.

Listening effectively

The best leaders have outstanding listening skills. While there are many ways to improve listening skills, one approach is especially useful in cultivating relationships across differences. First, adopt an attitude of humility and openness in listening to someone who is different. Try to suspend the common habit of listening in preparation to respond or argue. Rather, assume you are about to be treated to a story. Second, when listening, restrain from interjecting comments, questions, or other responses until you have listened for a period of time (an imperfect heuristic is about 20 seconds, but each person must make the determination based on the situation). When you do ask questions, be patient and listen for a complete response before you ask another question. Sometimes, it is so exciting to learn about differences that we openly display our enthusiasm and curiosity. But, for those who differ from us, those expressions of enthusiasm can be overwhelming or off-putting.

Telling one’s personal story

All of the leaders described are skilled in talking about themselves in a personal way that reveals aspects of who they are along specific dimensions of difference. A number of leaders have spoken with passion about their lower-class upbringing and how their class experience has shaped their leadership style. Others have taken the opportunity to talk about what it means to them to be white, or to be male and to lead.

10 This list of skills is distilled from the set of core competencies articulated by a consortium of consultants and scholars, including Barbara Berry, Janice Eddy, Ann Akiko Kusumoto, Richard Orange, Bill Page, Anita Sanchez, Kit Tennis, and Heather Wishik.

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Effective leaders in diverse organizations are able to tell these stories because they are willing to be introspective about what the dimensions of difference mean. Every aspect of difference has social, psychological, and political implications regardless of where we reside along that dimension. There is a “race story” for blacks, Asians, whites, and Latinos; a “gender story” for men and women; a “sexual orientation story” for gays, lesbians, heterosexuals, and bisexuals. These leaders have taken the effort to discover and elaborate upon their own stories so they can talk about them with those they lead.

You can discover aspects of your story by researching your place on a specific dimension of difference in the same way you would research another’s place along the dimension—using books, articles, or the Internet. For example, if you are a white U.S. citizen, you can examine the scholarly work on whiteness in the United States as a means of gaining insight into your own whiteness.11 In addition, you can engage in personal research by talking with family members about your family history. Interestingly, people who have embarked upon this personal research often find family and friends are quite interested in talking about these issues, and they want to hear what you have learned.

Finally, you can explore how you learned about difference from past experiences—from family, friends, and institutions. For example, you can reflect upon what messages were received early in life about people whose religion differs from your own. What did your parents say? Your siblings? Your clergy? Identifying these messages as they pertain to any given dimension of difference is one way to discover your own sense of identity along these dimensions. This technique is especially helpful when you are trying to understand your identity as a member of the majority or dominant part of any given identity group (e.g., you are a man learning about gender, a white learning about race, a heterosexual learning about sexual orientation).

Separating intent from impact

Leaders in diverse organizations cultivate the recognition that actions and behaviors in which they engage may negatively impact individuals who are different from them, even if the leader had no intention of harming the individual. The leader is able to reconcile the fact that his or her comment or action may have had a negative effect upon the recipient without experiencing the recipient’s negative reaction as an indictment of the leader’s sense of social awareness and self esteem.

For example, one leader jokingly referred to his friend and colleague as “girl,” a terminology for him that was meant to convey collegial closeness and platonic affection. He meant it as a compliment. However, his female colleague experienced the term as demeaning to her professionalism and was insulted. The leader was able to acknowledge the insulting experience his colleague had, without feeling insulted or hurt that his intended expression of

11 R. Frankenberg, White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993), x+289.

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colleagueship was met with anger. He was clear that he intended a positive message and was open to apologizing for the unintended impact of his comment. Moreover, he remained committed to finding other ways to express his high regard for his colleague.

Accepting feedback

Effective leaders are able to accept feedback about their own behavior and modify that behavior appropriately. Everyone, regardless of position, improves his or her individual competence by receiving and acting on valid feedback. Rarely does anyone completely master the intricacies and subtleties of intergroup and intercultural differences, so the ability to change a behavior that is dysfunctional in diverse settings is essential.

Practice enhances this skill. Ask trusted others for feedback on your behaviors in the presence of people who are different. It is best to have two sources of feedback—one person who is similar to you, and one who is different from you. This structure can provide the requisite amount of help you need to consider the feedback without becoming too defensive to act on it.

Demonstrating courage

Finally, leaders in diverse organizations are courageous. This courage manifests in two ways. Invariably, negotiating difference in organizations means various constituents in the organization will dislike you. Each of the leaders described above was willing to alter the status quo.12 Moreover, in challenging others on issues that are as sensitive as diversity can be, these leaders make themselves unpopular.

But equally trying are difficulties in confronting our own imperfections. No leader is free from prejudiced attitudes regarding differences. Whether along dimensions of race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or other differences, we all carry beliefs that range from innocently embarrassing to profoundly hurtful to others. Empathy, listening, and accepting feedback help us in behaving more effectively, but we must also be willing to confront aspects of ourselves about which we are not proud.

Conclusion

Two important points should be made about the characteristics and skills discussed here. First, these are not simply skills for the leader who happens to work with people who are different along some obvious dimension. Even people who look the same embody a vast array of differences that, if managed effectively, can enhance what happens in the organization.

12 M. N. Davidson, “The Value of Being Included: An Examination of Diversity Change Initiatives in Organizations,” Performance Improvement Quarterly 12 (1999): 164–180.

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Second, effective leadership in a diverse context is not a competency reserved only for individuals at the highest levels of management. Rather, each of the competencies described here is applicable for managers and team leaders trying to thrive amidst diversity in their work environments. Much is made of the importance of top management commitment to engaging diversity effectively, and there is no question that top management buy-in is necessary. But in most organizations, difference is engaged initially when lower-level members of the organization use the characteristics and skills described here to analyze how work is done. It is the awareness of problems on the margin that jumpstarts change.

Finally, consider that the one quality that pervades the greatest leaders of diverse organizations is that they are always learning. David Thomas and Robin Ely wrote:

Leaders in diversity-valuing companies are proactive about learning. They encourage people to make explicit use of cultural experience at work. They fight all forms of dominance and subordination, and they ensure that the inevitable tensions that come from a genuine effort to make way for diversity are acknowledged and resolved with sensitivity.13

13 D. A. Thomas and R. J. Ely, “Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity,” Harvard Business Review 74 (1996): 79–90.