In the early 2000s, only 14% of Fortune 500 CIOs were women. As of 2020, that number stands at 25%, and it remains fairly constant even as you move down to Fortune 100. We’ve seen improvement in this space certainly, but at less than 1% per year we should be asking, “What can we do differently?”
The need for diversity in leadership isn’t about checking a box, it’s simply good for business. When your customer base is made up of diverse communities, it’s prudent to have your teams reflect that diversity to better understand your customer’s needs and how you address that through your products, services, marketing, and technology.
Diversity isn’t about only visible or identifiable characteristics such as gender or race. It’s also about diversity of thought, background, and experiences that leaders can bring to their roles.
Here are a few ways that companies can address diversity in the C-suite:
- Make sure that your executive searches emphasize well-rounded perspectives in candidates. This is important according to
Katherine (Katie) Graham Shannon
, Partner at
Heidrick & Struggles
, who shared this idea in a recent conversation with T200.
- Make it a leadership imperative for yourself – leave your team more diverse than when you started. This was a strategy that
H. James Dallas
, author and executive, employed throughout his career journey. (Stay tuned for more insights from this leader in future articles.)
- Make it a leadership imperative for your team. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and no one will measure it if it’s not important.
- Examine your unconscious biases. It’s a fact that people create affinity based on characteristics that are familiar; we like other people who are “like us.” Do you like people better who play or follow a certain sport, listen to a certain type of music, or grew up in a specific environment? We make connections to people every day through our shared experiences; it’s only problematic when it becomes the basis for our hiring or promotion decisions.
- Establish a pipeline for talent – both internally and externally. Getting people ready for senior roles requires investing in that talent well before you need it. If you look around your company and always conduct external searches because “no one is ready” for a senior role, you may want to examine how you are preparing and evaluating internal talent. When you do conduct an external search, pay attention to the methods you are using to attract that talent. Talent is out there but finding it may require new approaches and a willingness to reevaluate how you recruit and attract it.
What is your company doing to improve diversity in your leadership roles?
At T200, we share our mission of fostering, celebrating, and advancing women’s leadership in tech. Our members are changing the face of consumer, enterprise, and business technology daily. We invite you to learn more about us and join, volunteer, or donate at https://www.t200.org/.
