Are you a kitten?

Recently my colleague and friend Ernesto Marinelli (SVP, Head of HR, Board Area EMEA and Greater China) was awarded as Germany′s First Top 10 Out LGBTI Executives (Find more details here https://www.sticks-and-stones.com/de/stolze-vorbilder/). What a magnificent honor and appreciation for a great leader. I congratulate him wholeheartedly.                                                                                         

But then, after some time of reflection, I asked myself: why do we still have to have such awards in 2017, rather than simply recognizing Ernesto for his great leadership; without mentioning his sexual orientation, gender or cultural background. Ernesto is a great leader irrespective of these factors, just as much as any great leader would remain a great leader regardless of whether their hair was red, black or blond. (Please also read Ernesto′s great blog on diversity https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/can-too-much-diversity-sometimes-divide-us-dr-ernesto-marinelli)

Learning from the world of animals can be unique and has potential to change the world – remember Otto Lilienthal, who  studied the flight behavior of birds before becoming an aviation pioneer. Look at the picture of the kitten playing with a colorful toy; the first impression from looking at the picture is that the kitten is attracted by the yellow, pink and purple feathers. But, does it really care about colors?

No, the kitten isn′t attracted by color diversity. It can′t really see the different colors, as cats are kind of color blind. Rather, it is attracted by the toy itself and the colors that it has are not important; there are other criteria that determine its attractiveness or unattractiveness. These criteria are also, not gender, cultural background or sexual orientation. Rather, the factors that are important to the kitten, are the attributes that make it a great toy.

So, how to become like a kitten?

Unfortunately, we still need role models, because equal opportunities are not yet given. We do not have these equal opportunities for everyone and people still experience discrimination because of their gender, sexual orientation, culture, disability etc. That′s why we also need to create awareness for diversity and inclusion and show that it matters. Therefore, we need to create an inclusive culture for diversity, we need to track quotas of female leaders, have LGBTI Awards, have representatives for severely disabled employees and so on.

As it is still “not normal reality" that a gay man or a woman gets the chance to become a leader at all, it was important for me to show, at the German diversity day  last May 30th, our commitment at SAP for diversity and inclusion. I wanted to create awareness and  express  how grateful we are for our diverse environment. The theme of the day initiated by www.charta-der-vielfalt.de was "Flagge zeigen" (raise your flag).

No sooner said than done - we wanted to do something special and wanted to reach as many people as possible. It shouldn′t be just a booth with information; where only those interested in the topic spent their time.  We wanted to go directly to our, about 20.0000, employees in Germany and talk to them about diversity & inclusion.

But how do you reach busy people in the afternoon?

30 degrees on a sunny day – who would say “no” to a sweet ice cream? So, we went with ice trolleys and bags packed with ice cream to our employee’s desks; to show our commitment for diversity, to talk about it and to give more information.

What can I say - it worked out!

People liked it and wanted to hear our message and moreover many of them posted on our Jam page a picture of themselves with the ice cream, showing pride and commitment for our action. Besides our employees, our board members and senior executives also showed their commitment by taking part.

But, diversity is not always easy. Yes, it is not always just a funny colorful ice cream or comparable with a sweet kitten. Diverse backgrounds and different opinions need more openness, more time for discussion and often more conflicts.

I can say this, because I had to experience it by myself when I came as a 14 year old refugee on my own from Afghanistan to Germany. It was not always easy and it never is when different people come together.

In 10 years my vision is that we will not have a Top 10 LGBTI award (sorry Ernesto ;-)), no quota for female leader and no need for a special day on diversity, as every day is diversity day. It will be just as normal for us that leaders have disabilities, different genders and sexual orientations as it is that they have red, black or blond hair.  –

Join me in dreaming of this future!

Cheers,

Cawa