In all my years of coaching, consulting and leading teams there are some universal leadership truths. They come in the form of missives that I’ve never heard any successful leader say. Ever…

“I need more of the same ideas!”
“I need a team with more narrow thinking.”
“We need to just do the same thing we did last year.”

Yet I still see leaders acting in a way that limits their idea pool. And the most obvious way to limit yourself is not to have a diverse group of people to hear ideas from.

The recent weariness about, or even out-and-out backlash against, diversity and inclusion initiatives is costing companies dear. The most recent McKinsey Diversity Matters report makes grim reading if you’ve taken your eye off this ball.

Organisations in the bottom quartile for both ethnic and gender diversity are on average 66% less likely to outperform financially, up from 27% in 2020.

Put simply: not having diverse ideas to solve your problems dents your chances of high performance by TWO THIRDS… and it’s getting worse.

And in the war on talent and retention – cue hybrid working agitation, existential AI threat and inflationary pay pressure – diversity is a key lever. A 2023 Forbes article proudly shouts the headline that ‘7 in 10 millennials offer loyalty in exchange for diverse workforce’. Specifically they quote Deloitte research showing that 69% of Millennial and Gen Z workers are likely to stay five or more years with a company that has a diverse workforce.

Pause for thought.

‘I get it, Nic. But it’s out of my hands!’, I hear you cry.

And the reasons why you might feel helpless about this vary.

• I don’t have direct control over our recruitment processes and they haven’t caught up.
• I’m flying the flag for this on my own – I’ve improved my team diversity but nobody else wants to listen.
• I inherited my team and don’t have vacancies to play with.

I hear you. So, let’s get creative.

• Can you find research from diverse voices that you can build into the team ideas and perspectives?
• Can you combine forces with another team who have different backgrounds to solve problems together? Perhaps one in your organisation or another group in your field?
• Can you bring in an external person with a different background for a key workshop or meeting?

But those creative solutions have to be on top of advocating for organisation-wide change for diversity. And I mean all areas of diversity – ethnicity and gender are only two. Oh, and be an ally to the diverse people you meet. Because, you know, you’re a good person.

It’s a lot. But I didn’t say it was going to be easy. I said it was necessary for your success as a leader with a high-performing team. And if I know you as well as I think I do – that’s a powerful motivator.