Tag: Inclusion

Businesses started caring a lot more about diversity after a series of high-profile lawsuits rocked the financial industry. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Morgan Stanley shelled out $54 million—and Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch more than $100 million each—to settle sex discrimination claims. In 2007, Morgan was back at the table, facing a… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 35

One of my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quotes is: “There is nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” And I am just going to come out and say it: Most diversity and inclusion initiatives fall into the former category: sincere ignorance. They look and sound great. They are usually well-meaning too. But… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 34

Over at the New York Times Magazine, ambivalence toward capital “D” diversity courses through Anna Holmes’ excellent essay “Has ‘Diversity’ Lost Its Meaning?” Holmes, the founding editor of Jezebel and now an executive at Fusion, notes that while corporate odes to “diversity” are de rigeur these days at places like SXSW and fancy media conferences,… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 33

Although diversity efforts are concerned with representation and who is included, diversity efforts should not be confused with creating an inclusive environment. An inclusive environment does not simply mean that people from various groups are included, it is concerned with what their inclusion in that organization or environment means. https://vk.com/video503532632_456240241

It goes without saying that Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity make for an awful acronym: DIE. More importantly, these three words are strung together so often that some think that these words are synonymous and use them interchangeably, leading to a number of people writing about the differences between these three words. Try a quick Google… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 31

The days of taking a one-size-fits-all approach are over, never to exist again. Our goal as leaders is to convert the melting pot of differences into a mosaic that fuels strategies for growth, innovation, and opportunity to maximize the full potential of people, brands, and businesses. Diversity and inclusion must be about understanding your identity… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 30

More and more companies are using diversity and inclusion plans solely to get recognized on a top 100 diversity management list. We need to stop solving and looking for recognition and start thinking about and earning respect from the actual people in our workplaces and marketplaces – to give them influence over the growth of… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 29

If you review corporate diversity and inclusion plans for companies, most believe in their hearts that the implementation will make the company better inside and a more competitive outside. Good! That’s what a diversity and inclusion plan should do. But when I ask the executives what their plans solve for, they often say “diversity and… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 28

By and large, diversity and inclusion initiatives focus only on recruitment, reputation management, and “checking off the boxes.” That does not make them bad. It just makes them limited. But what really limits them is where they live: in HR and CSR – on the fringe and disconnected from enterprise wide growth opportunities. As a… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 27

When you consider that most diversity and inclusion initiatives are developed to comply with corporate governance and self-regulation (often under the heading “Corporate Social Responsibility” or CSR). For example, in most workplaces, these initiatives are usually poorly funded tactical inclusion initiatives disconnected from broader, more substantial, and well-funded general training programs. They may be well… Continue reading Problems with Diversity Part 26