DEI Is Here To Stay

Strong, Effective Leadership Starts with Inclusivity

I was recently transiting through Salt Lake City International Airport, and an announcement about embracing diversity caught my attention. 

Although our work at Mine The Gap is all about diversity, equity and inclusion, I realized just how much of a trigger the word diversity has become. 

Despite this fact and the fact that we will continue to see DEI used as a lightning rod and punching bag throughout the U.S. presidential election and beyond, DEI isn’t going anywhere. 

And, the companies that embrace it will be far more competitive as we become more globally interconnected and reliant upon each other. 

DEI will remain because being inclusive is critical to good leadership. It allows leaders to attract and retain diverse and outstanding talent, and identify the varied competencies and perspectives from people with different backgrounds and life experiences that uniquely position their company among their competitors.  

A 2019 McKinsey McKinsey & Company study across 12 countries found “that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity were 36 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians, while those in the top quartile for gender diversity were 21 percent more likely to have financial returns above their medians.” 

Moving beyond the numbers, a recent study by Korn Ferry explains five traits that comprise 21st-century inclusive leaders. They build interpersonal trust, integrate diverse perspectives, optimize talent, apply adaptive mindsets, and achieve transformation – all of which are undergirded by leaning into and leveraging people’s differences.

Inclusive leaders are also curious and leverage this to learn about their colleagues and tap into their energy and creativity for the organization's benefit. They know their colleagues’ potential and create an environment where they feel encouraged to show up as their whole selves. Deloitte has identified six critical qualities, including the ability to recognize one’s own biases, make a visible commitment to inclusion, and prioritize diversity. 

In today’s world, leaders cannot afford to be exclusive or make decisions guided by a narrow vision of like-minded colleagues unless they want to stay in a constant, reactive state to the risks and challenges businesses now face. Leaders who invest in themselves and others are the leaders that will take us forward. DEI is about using our platforms to embrace change and innovate in a vastly different world. Mining the gap for untapped talent and leveraging it for our business’s success is not going out of style - this is only the beginning. 

We’ll release our online training on inclusive leadership soon. Sign up for our newsletter for updates and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.