The Changing Face of Leadership and Its Importance for Today’s World

In 2021, individuals seem to recognize the strengths of diversity, but C-level executives are still overwhelmingly white and male. Not only is this bad for workplace culture, it can also lead to sub-optimal leadership decisions.

A diverse boardroom is essential for strong, resilient company leadership in the face of modern business challenges. This article focuses on the changing face of leadership, and highlights why boardroom diversity is needed to thrive in today's world. 

What is Diversity

For your organization to be considered truly diverse, all human differences should be well represented. This means that your company has employees of different races, genders, religions, sexual orientations, physical abilities, and political views. 

Not only does a diverse organization need to have individuals with different characteristics, but it also needs to foster a sense of inclusion to ensure everyone feels involved.

This can be achieved by recognizing that everyone involved in your organization has inherent dignity and value. It might sound simple, but a lot of companies out there struggle with this!

Diversity in Leadership

These days, most CEOs and other individuals in leadership positions recognize the importance of diversity in the workforce. Despite this, most boardroom and leadership positions are still not diversifying. 

In fact, the majority of CEOs are still white men. This is problematic because diversity can offer many great benefits for your organization. 

Better Decision Making

During the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, corporate decision-making has never been more important. Making the right choices during a crisis can make or break your company.

When you have diverse leadership, you have a much greater depth of world experiences to draw on. This can be invaluable when making important decisions that will affect your organization.

For example, consider the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Many C-level executives spent the early days of the crisis in denial that anything was wrong, and they were unprepared to handle the lockdown.

In the last century, Europe and North America have been relatively lucky when dealing with pandemics; but other continents, such as Africa and Asia, have dealt with them much more recently. 

Boards with Asian and African leaders, and those who choose to be sensitive to their experiences, may have a better understanding of, and be able to make more informed leadership decisions pertaining to, these issues. 

The Ability to Pivot

As we discovered during 2020, the modern business needs to be resilient to change and have the ability to pivot under new circumstances. Organizations that were quickly able to adapt to the national lockdowns experienced fewer adjustment problems and productivity losses. 

On the other hand, companies that were reluctant or ill-equipped to change struggled to survive the new normal. This is another situation where diversity in talent, technology and teamwork in the decision-making process is invaluable. 

During the COVID-19 crisis, a huge number of companies were forced to move their operations online. Some companies who relied on in-person sales needed to move their operations to an e-commerce setting if they wanted to survive. 

C-level executives who didn't evolve along with digital technologies may have struggled to adapt. On the other hand, companies that embrace digital transformation more readily adjust to these new circumstances. 

Technology is regularly revolutionizing the world of business, so it's important to have participation from digital natives and digital immigrants in our technology- and media-saturated world. Without these kinds of leaders, your business won't have the technical knowledge needed to adapt to these changes. 

For example, remote work is likely here to stay. To make good leadership decisions, you need board members who are comfortable with the necessary technology and willing to explore new approaches to employee engagement. 

If you have a homogenized boardroom rather than a diverse one, your ability to pivot in response to changing circumstances will be limited. If you want truly resilient leadership that can respond to a crisis, you need diversity. 

Resilience Against Black Swans

As our society becomes more complex and interconnected, organizations are more at risk of exposure to black swan events. A black swan event is a high impact, low probability event that is impossible to predict. These kinds of events can only be understood in hindsight. 

For example, the 2008 financial crisis was (for most organizations) an unpredictable event that had a huge impact. These black swans are generally unknown, meaning they're difficult to plan for. 

You don't know what the next threat is going to be. If you want to survive and thrive, you'll need a wide variety of perspectives and skills at your disposal. This is something you can only achieve with diverse leadership. 

The Changing Geopolitical Situation

Another reason that diverse leadership is desirable is because of the shifting global situation. After the Cold War ended, we entered a unipolar system of power in which the United States was by far the biggest world power. 

Now it seems we're shifting into a more multi-polar global system. Rising powers such as China and India wield considerably more influence. As these countries rise in power, it becomes more likely that executives will need to work with them. 

The changing global situation means that mono-cultural leadership doesn't cut it anymore. If you want to be a global company, you need leaders from a variety of backgrounds. 

Create a Vibrant Company Culture

A vibrant company culture is essential if you want to get the best out of your employees. In most companies, the workforce is becoming more diverse, but the leadership isn't diverse. 

This can create significant problems with creating a corporate culture. If individuals in the workforce don't feel like their identity is represented, it's unlikely an inclusive corporate culture will develop. 

Workers are at their best when they're happy. True happiness can only flourish in your organizations when individuals can express their inner selves in the workplace. 

A worker who feels the need to hide their true identity at work is less likely to be productive. They are also less likely to be loyal to your company. If you want to keep your top talent, you need to work hard to create an inclusive environment. 

Having a vibrant workplace culture will inspire individuals to work at their best. It will also help you to bring in new talent. Potential new employees usually want to work with companies that have a good workplace culture. 

Fight Unconscious Biases

Even the strongest believers in inclusivity can have unconscious biases. This can be a problem in leadership as it could make individuals feel excluded. This is particularly problematic in boards made up of only white men. 

This kind of board could easily be making biased decisions without even being aware of it. The only way to combat this kind of unconscious bias is to have diverse leadership.

This way, these kinds of biases in leadership can easily be identified. Without the right kind of leadership, these kinds of issues can go unnoticed for years. 

Give the Marginalized a Voice

It can be difficult for those who feel underrepresented in a company to speak up. This means that it's the role of leadership to amplify the voices of those individuals.

Take a look at executive and management level meetings and notice who isn't represented there. It would help if you gave under-represented groups of individuals the chance to make their voices heard. 

Everyone should be able to bring their best self to work. Without real diversity, some individuals might be excluded from being able to do this. 

The Changing Face of Leadership

As you can see, your organization needs to adapt if you want to survive the challenges to come. Without diverse leadership, you'll struggle to achieve this.

Also, a diverse boardroom is essential if you want to create a vibrant company culture. Such a workplace culture keeps your workforce engaged and helps you to recruit the best new talent. 

To close out #WomensHistoryMonth, Presidio hosted a fireside chat focused on "Leading Through Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities for Women in the Workplace." Thank you to everyone who helped put together this inspirational and empowering event! #chief, #womenexecs #diversity

Clara Conti is a former chief executive officer, corporate restructuring guru and founder of multiple business startups. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.