Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Boxing

As the two young men walked past me, I could see them looking in my direction and sniggering away. This is my reality when using the punching bag at the gym and this really has a lot of commonalities with Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) initiatives.

Starting and running a D&I initiative may be seen by some as showing off, tokenism etc. However, like boxing, you need to keep doing what you are doing and not pay attention to what people think. I box to improve my stamina, build upper body strength but someone passing by may see it as me simply showing off my strength. Sometimes, what we do doesn’t need to be understood by all, but as long as we know why we are doing it, then we should simply carry on.

Here are some other ways we can relate D&I to boxing.

Start Slow

One thing I learnt when I started boxing was to start slow. I remember when I fist got my boxing gloves from Amazon, I was so excited I could not wait to get to the gym and just throw non-stop punches at the bag.

On getting to the gym, I worked out on some machines and headed to the boxing section. Wore my gloves and as I’ve been dreaming, started throwing heavy punches. Within 20 seconds, I was out of breath!

What I didn’t realise was that boxing is an endurance sport. Just as you can’t approach a marathon with a sprint mentality, also you can’t approach boxing or diversity initiatives with a big bang approach. Boxers start small early in their career, picking easy wins, building credibility and working their way to the top to fight the title holder, same approach should be taken when starting any D&I initiative.

Starting slow could include getting a senior exec as a sponsor, understanding current culture, understanding people’s attitude to current culture, and proposed future state, reviewing internal HR policies to see which ones can easily be updated to be more inclusive and fairer. To the outside world, it may seem like you are doing nothing but on the contrary, you are getting the groundwork done as you need a solid foundation to build all your future initiatives on and a false start could significantly impact your future success negatively.

Win Some. Lose Some

Just like boxing, some of your initiatives will land well, get senior management and colleague buy in and go on to be successful.

Some will not.

Sometimes, the business is just not ready for a change and trying to implement it will fail. An example, our successful #BlackScotInterns program was launched in 2021 and lots of D&I and HR professionals have taken it back to their organisation to get buy in. They have largely been successful and their organisations have seen the need for it and signed up.

If the same program had been launched in 2015, there is a high probability that the business would have kicked against it.

Same program. Same intended outcome. Different times. Different business response.

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Flaunt It If You’ve Got It

Boxers are known to be flamboyant and very expressive. They are quick to tell you about their accomplishments and can sing it from the mountain top. One of the reasons is because the boxing ring is a lonely place, YOU are by yourself in that ring, YOU alone will take those punches from your opponent, YOU alone will face the humiliation of a knockout.

It can be understood therefore if a boxer boasts about their achievement. This is the same for diversity initiatives and indeed diversity professionals. You are in most cases launching an “assault” on the norm and putting yourself in the firing line in terms of some colleagues simply not liking you because of the constant changes you keep introducing.

This is the reason why you need to flaunt what you have achieved. If an initiative has been successful, ensure you shout about it internally and externally, scream about it on LinkedIn, include it on your company’s Careers page so prospective colleagues can know, let anyone who cares to listen know that you have successfully launched an initiative.

Yes, some will say “Well, you are doing that but you are not doing this, this and that”. Ignore them, celebrate your successes everyday as this will encourage you, encourage others and be a catalyst for more changes.

Get Yourself A King

Some of the most successful boxers have been promoted by one man. Don King. He’s taken some of them from boxing obscurity to international stardom.

You may have all the wonderful ideas and initiatives but if you don’t have a promoter on your side, most of your initiatives may never take off. Who is a promoter you may ask? This is a member of Senior Management, preferably a C-Suite individual.

They can ensure your organisation’s D&I ambitions and your initiatives are relevant and discussed at senior level which will ensure buy-in across the business.

Collaborate For Success

Boxers earn an income directly from punching people but then they also earn further income from collaborations and sponsorships. They will achieve some financial success from fight money but will achieve more lasting financial success by building relationships with brands who will continue to work with them after the final bell.

Same goes for diversity initiatives. You will achieve some success by running the race alone, but you can achieve lasting success by collaborating with organisations who can help you get to your desired state. D&I professionals have figured this out and are going on this journey with Black Professionals Scotland so we can help them deliver some of their aspirations as they simply cannot do it all alone.

There is no shame is collaborating, it’s not a sign of weakness but rather a show of strength and a signal to the world that you are ready to drive change.