How the NFL Scandal Provides Lessons on Diversity and Change Management

Last week the NFL was shaken up big time by some of the accusations brought forward by Brian Flores. No need to worry apparently because the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the current status was unacceptable and that basically he is on it and it will get fixed. (can you read the sarcasm here)

These types of incidents happen and they always follow the same subsequent pattern. Someone exposes the issue with firsthand evidence. Then others come forward and validate the accusation once it is made. Finally, the organization and the people in question step forward and provide platitudes in an attempt to make everyone feel better, excuses are shared, promises of repairing the situation, outside consultants are brought in and insincere thanks is given to the person that exposed the issue to begin with. Is that enough? Are we as a society happy with these responses? What might all businesses and organizations learn from these happenings?

For me, the big takeaway is that diversity is not easy. Maybe I should say, "still not easy." Despite all the work and attention that the word and the best practices have received over the decades, it is still hard for an organization to really get there. I thought about why and I believe that the cause is in many ways the same issue that sits at the heart of any adoption issue.

For example, suppose you want an organization that embraces debate and differing opinions and you believe that will help you make better decisions. However, your leadership team is incapable of delegating and loves to surround themselves with "yes men/women". How are you ever going to build an organization that embraces differing views? You won't. You do not have a foundation that is capable of supporting those ideals. The same thing occurs with diversity - although an organization might say they want to support diversity, if that initiative fails, then we must look at the structure that already exists and ask if it is capable of supporting those goals. There is a high probability that it is not ready and therefore failure looms in the future.

From my perspective change is always going to fail when the proposed change is merely "tolerated" or "accepted". This is what happened in the NFL example. Everyone knew it was the policy or the goal but nobody in leadership really embraced and loved the change. It was merely tolerated. Change requires passion and advocacy in order to succeed, if not supported by those strong emotions and personal commitments then the change will not prevail. It will be stalled, blocked, diluted, and even reversed by the apathy and malaise that exists across the organization and especially the leadership team.

Many businesses and organizations talk a lot about diversity, they post about it and brag about their initiatives, but look closely. Do they have a leadership team composed of entirely 50-year-old white men? If so then one has to wonder if there is any authenticity to the claim.

There are also imbalances in where companies exert their efforts. Right now there is a huge initiative to be inclusive when it comes to hiring and including LGBTQ candidates and employees, accommodating pronoun preferences is also top of the list. However, have we even achieved the right levels of diversity when it comes to simple equality for women in the workplace or racial balance. Not to mention that right now the most prevalent form of exclusion is actually Ageism, and we hear very little about that. I am not saying that it is a zero-sum game, or that organizations should focus on just one group. However they do need to think broadly about their practices and as I said at the outset, doing this right can be challenging.

The secret sauce comes down to leadership - when an executive team believes and acts based on a realization that diversity is good for their company and for them personally then the organization will follow suit. When they implement policies from afar and their goal is "compliance" then it will be an ongoing struggle. The leadership team - and everyone on the leadership team, needs to believe in the value of diversity and understand that it is not a burden but something that will make their organization stronger.