Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, KPMG’s national managing partner for corporate responsibility, diversity and inclusion
As a diversity and inclusion executive, I’ve watched many initiatives
waver, stall, or at worse, completely fail. What brings about these downfalls
isn’t strategy – the ideas are usually sound. The missing ingredient is visible,
Authentic Leadership.
Today, we operate in a truly global world. Fortunately, the various
value propositions for advancing diversity and inclusion are becoming
increasingly clear. Corporate C-Suites, NGOs, Governments, Boards, and
Educational Institutions desire more innovation, appreciate the need to drive
talent sustainability, or simply see the value of diverse perspectives in
problem solving. Additionally, we see the linkage between good governance and diversity,
and between risk management and inclusion. Lastly, there is increasing research
that demonstrates the positive correlation between diversity and inclusion and
performance.
So why aren’t more strong initiatives moving forward? It’s
because we’ve not yet won the hearts and minds of many stakeholders. To
accelerate change, we need to move beyond grasping the value propositions, articulating
the strategy, creating goals and metrics, defining specific accountabilities,
or developing corporate slogans or vision statements.. Though dialogue and
efforts have increased and we are beginning to see progress, we will only be
able to move faster through Authentic
Leadership.
Authentic Leadership
can be defined in many ways, but essentially it is a genuine approach to
leadership that connects actions to core values and personal convictions. Leaders
who do not truly and deeply believe in the mission of the initiative they are
driving will never guide the organization to full success. Leaders at all
levels must genuinely demonstrate, on a very personal level why as an
individual, they personally believe diversity to be important.
One Leader’s Story
Fortunately, I have seen the impact that this type of
leadership can have on an organization. One example that comes to mind is that of
a specific white male CEO who spoke of his commitment to diversity, his
expectations of inclusion and even his establishment of bold goals for the
organization. But to the organization it appeared to be rhetoric, another goal
amongst many.
To fully win the hearts and minds of individuals within the
organization, the CEO shared a personal story that illustrated his own
commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The story was simple. He shared how he was the youngest child
and the only boy in a large family. He spoke of being aware of the differences
in treatment between himself and his sisters. He shared specific facts of the
inequities he witnessed when his extremely capable older sisters entered the
workforce.
The CEO’s story became the catalyst for accelerating change within
the organization, particularly with respect to the advancement of women.
Individually we are all different, but collectively our
impact can be dynamic. You can apply the principles of Authentic Leadership storytelling to your own diversity and
inclusion work through the following quick tips:
- Tell a genuine story about how you have personally been impacted by diversity in your own voice. Do not read from a script.
- Be sure you are deeply involved in the story and not recalling observations from a distance.
- Reveal some of the personal challenges encountered during your diversity journey.
- Ask for reactions or questions.
- Share your story often and with various levels and audiences including external constituents.
- Be engaged beyond the moment.
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Kathy Hopinkah Hannan is KPMG’s national managing partner
for corporate responsibility, diversity and inclusion. She is also a doctoralstudent in values-driven leadership at Benedictine University.
