So how do you make your case for the value of diversity at the top?
We find CEOs who have experienced it and know intrinsically that diversity is a core value that allows companies to be successful. We find them, look at their best practices, and have them share it with their peers so that it is not just us talking about it.
This is not just a social justice thing, and it is not just a few more black folks getting some good jobs. It is about American communities thriving. Communities thrive when businesses succeed. If a major manufacturing plant or headquarters shuts down, that community can be impacted severely if it was dependent on that particular business. Our communities thrive with sustained business success, [which] is driven by innovation.
Share with me exactly how diversity drives innovation within corporations.
By definition innovation is thinking outside the box so it is diversity of thinking. If you want to have sustained diversity of thinking to drive sustained innovation, you have a better chance if at your leadership, decision-making levels, you have diverse people. Sixty-six percent of the U.S. population today is women and minorities. It is about everybody having a seat at the decision-making table. You have to have rich diversity of thinking that will drive innovation that will increase shareholder value and make your company successful. For a period of time [companies] can get away without it, but over time [they] will fail.
Do you view the ELC under your leadership as the chief catalyst
to diversify the executive suite?
In the end, the CEOs have to own this and decide diversity is a core value and business-critical. When that CEO decides that, it happens. We can’t do that for them, but we can help corporate America change for the better.