Is this Britain's last workplace diversity taboo?

Did you realise that in the boardrooms of Britain’s 100 most successful public companies, only one person – yes, one person – has a declared disability. That’s one in about 1,000 chairpersons, non-executive directors and assorted leaders. One person.

These are companies which interact with the public on an almost daily basis, a public where almost a quarter have expressed some kind of disability.

One of the reasons that it’s so important to create diverse workplace cultures is not simply to widen opportunities for those on the edges. It’s so that companies can more accurately reflect the needs and lived experiences of their customers. If you don’t truly understand people, how can you give them what they want?

About two years ago, I met and befriended that one person. Sara Weller. She’s been at the forefront of British business for almost four decades, at companies such as Mars Wrigley , Abbey National , 英国电信集团 , Virgin Money , Lloyds Banking Group , United Utilities and the Money and Pensions Service . When she was at her peak – running Argos between 2004-11 – she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and, for the past 15 years, has battled its devastating symptoms. Now in a wheelchair, she is on a mission to address how the needs and talents of disabled people are often overlooked in the workplace. If they’re ignored, then that probably means the customers of these companies are too.

Last week we met up before an interview with Ruth Sunderland at the Mail on Sunday, which you can find here. It’s a brilliant read. But it’s what happened before and after seeing Ruth Sunderland MA FRSA that had more of an impact on me. We were in Kensington, a borough of London that frequently terms itself one of the country’s ‘most considerate’ areas. We met in a café that Sara had chosen deliberately for its ground floor bathroom but only as we were about to leave did we discover it was out of order and the only other one was downstairs.

We then crossed the road to the Mail’s temporary offices where a sign told us the pavement was closed and so we’d have to go on the other side. Impossible for Sara on her own because there were no accessible dips in the pavement. Then, in the building, the wheelchair access lift at the front didn’t work so I had to get two burly security men to lift Sara in her wheelchair down the steps. Her response? ‘Just another day of my reality.’

A reality that I and I guess millions of others are totally unaware of. And if this is one of the UK's most 'considerate' areas, what is life like for disabled people elsewhere?

When I embarked on this career reinvention more than a decade ago – and it’s still ongoing – I hadn’t realised that one of my greatest assets would be the fact that I know absolutely nothing. A little bit here and there but some of my most successful projects have been when my experience is shallow, bordering on na?ve.

Telling the stories of complex technologies, healthcare advances, financial products or leaders I knew absolutely nothing about. Coming to things with a fresh pair of eyes, with no in-built biases and a burning curiosity to understand what matters to people helps to make storytelling more useful, meaningful and impactful.

I’m helping Sara and her team tell these stories and drum up support for a big campaign in February which will shine a light on how to make British business cultures more diverse and inclusive for people with disabilities.

I think it might also have another effect. It will encourage some of those (approximately) 999 other business leaders in boardrooms to change their minds about not openly discussing their disabilities. Because there will be plenty of them with conditions such as dyslexia, depression, autism, hearing loss, sight problems, ‘hidden’ medical and mobility issues.

The more they feel able to talk about their life experiences, the more inspiration they will provide to disabled colleagues further down the ladder; potential new recruits who are worried about whether their conditions will impede working lives; and the people who buy their products or interact with their companies, whose needs should be better served.

And they’ll also inspire people like me, who haven’t a clue. ?

#diversity #equity #inclusivity #dei #disability #storytelling #leadership?