Cricket, Baseball and the power of diversity

Week 7

Hi There!

Welcome to week 7 of Leadership Matters aimed at bringing you bite-sized news and ideas on the challenges that senior leaders face and the toolkit they have available to deal with them.

If you are a CEO, HR Director or VP, or someone who needs to know the leaders they work with are up to date and on-the-ball, you might want to consider asking them to subscribe to this as a useful and potentially powerful approach to shared development.

This week the focus is on diversity and inclusion Too many leaders focus, I believe, on these issues with the mindset of a risk to be managed rather than an opportunity to be grasped - a feeling of avoiding a problem rather than a route to greater productivity, innovation and customer satisfaction.

Steve Carter

Leadership in the News - English Cricket Board - the fall of the last bastion?
Leadership Checklist - Am I really a leader of diversity and inclusion
Leader of the week - Cynt Marshall - delivering where it counts.
PS - IT - the guiltiest party?.

Leadership News - ECB no longer white, middle class and patronising?

England Cricket Board Launches Diversity Training Plan for All Staff

The England Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that it will unveil a £5 million action plan to provide diversity training for every county employee as part of its commitment to make cricket more inclusive. The plan, which will be revealed in full next month, aims to address the issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination that have plagued the sport in recent years.

The ECB’s initiative is a welcome step towards embracing diversity in leadership, which is the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. Diversity in leadership means having leaders who come from different backgrounds, cultures, genders, races, ethnicities, orientations, abilities, and perspectives. It means having leaders who can relate to a wide range of employees, customers, and stakeholders, and who can foster a culture of inclusion, respect, and innovation.

Some of the benefits of diversity in leadership are:

Greater depth and breadth of experience and perspective. Diverse leaders have a wealth of knowledge and insights that can help them understand complex problems, generate creative solutions, and avoid biases and blind spots. They can also leverage their diverse networks and connections to access new opportunities and resources.
Better understanding of employees and clients. Diverse leaders can empathize with the needs, preferences, and expectations of different groups of people, both internally and externally. They can communicate effectively across cultural and linguistic barriers, and tailor their products and services to meet diverse demands . A report by Forbes showed that diverse teams are better at making decisions 87% of the time than non-diverse teams, as they offer broader perspectives and bring more information to the table.
Higher employee engagement and retention. Diverse leaders can create a positive work environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered. They can foster a sense of belonging and trust among their teams, and encourage collaboration and learning. They can also attract and retain top talent who seek diverse and inclusive workplaces . A survey by Workable found that diversity throughout the entire company was an area of priority for 64.8% of respondents in their overall DEI strategy.
Improved performance and profitability. Diverse leaders can drive innovation and growth by bringing new ideas, perspectives, and approaches to the table. They can also enhance the reputation and brand image of their organizations by demonstrating social responsibility and ethical leadership. Studies have shown that companies with more diversity at the executive level are more likely to generate higher profits. Research by McKinsey & Company revealed that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than those in the fourth quartile.

The implications for all leaders of having a positive mindset for diversity are clear: it can help you achieve your goals, overcome your challenges, and make a positive impact on your organization and society. If you want to be an effective leader in the 21st century, you need to embrace diversity in your team and yourself

Leadership Checklist - Diversity Delivers

The implications for all leaders of having a positive mindset for diversity is clear: it can help them achieve their goals, overcome their challenges, and make a positive impact on their organization and society. If you want to be an effective leader in the 21st century, you need to embrace diversity in your team and yourself

1. Do you proactively seek out and appreciate diverse perspectives and opinions from your team and stakeholders, even if they differ from your own or challenge the status quo, or do you dismiss or discourage them as irrelevant or disruptive?

2. Do you critically examine your own assumptions and biases, and seek honest feedback on how to improve your inclusiveness, both from yourself and others, or do you ignore or justify them as natural or harmless?

3. Do you communicate clearly and respectfully with people from different backgrounds, cultures, and languages, and adapt your style to suit their preferences, without compromising your authenticity or integrity, or do you impose your own style and expect them to conform or cope?

4. Do you tailor your products and services to meet the diverse needs and expectations of your customers and clients, and ensure that they are accessible, affordable, and equitable for all, or do you offer a one-size-fits-all solution that may exclude or disadvantage some groups?

5. Do you create a safe and supportive work environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered, regardless of their differences, and where discrimination, harassment, and bullying are not tolerated, or do you accept aggressive or abusive behaviour because you believe it gets things done?

6. Do you foster a culture of collaboration and learning among your team, and encourage them to share their diverse experiences and insights, as well as learn from others who are different from them, or do you discourage cross-cultural interactions and promote silos or cliques?

7. Do you attract and retain top talent who seek diverse and inclusive workplaces, and provide them with equal opportunities for growth and development, as well as recognition and reward for their contributions, or do you favour certain groups over others based on stereotypes or prejudices?

8. Do you drive innovation and growth by bringing new ideas, perspectives, and approaches to the table, and demonstrate social responsibility and ethical leadership, both within your organization and in the wider society, or do you resist change and stick to the status quo regardless of the consequences?

9. Do you accept ignorance of cultural values in the people you lead, or do you educate them on the importance of cultural awareness and sensitivity?

10. Do you believe there is an acceptable level of diversity in the team you lead in terms of gender, ethnicity, age and belief, or do you need to take action to increase the representation and inclusion of diverse groups?

Leader of the week - Cynt Marshall: The First Black Woman CEO in the NBA and a Champion of Diversity

Cynt Marshall: The First Black Woman CEO in the NBA and a Champion of Diversity

Cynt Marshall is the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, one of the most popular and successful teams in the NBA. She is also the first Black woman to lead an NBA team and one of the few women and people of color in sports management. She has transformed the Mavericks’ culture and promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization and beyond.

Marshall grew up in a poor and violent household in Richmond, California, where she faced racism and sexism. She excelled academically and athletically, earning a full scholarship to study business at UC Berkeley. She started her career at AT&T in 1981, and rose to become one of the company’s top executives. She retired from AT&T in 2017, and founded her own consulting firm.

In 2018, she was hired by Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, to take over as CEO after a scandal involving sexual harassment and misconduct within the team. She fired or suspended those who were responsible, hired more women and people of color in leadership positions, and implemented mandatory training and policies on diversity and inclusion. She also created a vision statement for the Mavericks: “We are a model franchise that is customer obsessed, innovative, diverse, inclusive, accountable, caring, winning, socially responsible global citizens.”

Marshall’s impact on the Mavericks has been remarkable. Under her leadership, the Mavericks have improved their performance on and off the court. They have increased their revenue by 15%, their fan base by 25%, and their employee engagement by 40%. They have also achieved a 50/50 gender balance among their staff, and a 47% representation of people of color. They have been recognized as one of the best workplaces in sports by Front Office Sports, and one of the most innovative teams in sports by Fast Company.

Marshall is not only a leader in sports, but also a leader in society. She is a cancer survivor, a mother of four children, and an author of a memoir titled You’ve Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected, which covers her life and her battle with cancer. She is also an advocate for social justice and racial equality. She has been recognized as one of the most powerful women in sports by Worth and one of the most influential women in business by Dallas Business Journal.

PS.

In case you think inclusivity and diversity are only a challenge in ‘traditional industries’ - here’s some trendy IT data for you:

The IT industry employs a larger share of whites, Asian Americans and men, and a smaller share of African Americans, Hispanics and women, compared to the overall private industry.
In the UK, only 15% of the tech workforce are from BAME backgrounds and gender diversity is currently sitting at 19% compared to 49% for all other jobs.
In the US, 83.3% of tech executives are white and only 2.6% of tech board positions are held by ethnic minorities
Only one in ten A-Level Computer studies students in the UK is female
Only 3% of Chief Technology Officers (CTO’s) or Technical Director roles are held by women

www.leadershipatthecrossroads.net

contact: steve@crossroadsct.co.uk