Joe Gerstandt | keynote speaker, freedom fighter, freak-flag flier

Admitting that we have a problem is the first step towards recovery.

I have been talking and writing a lot lately about a new way of leadership. I think that we are seeing a lot of evidence that the way we do leadership is inadequate. We simply deserve better. We deserve better outcomes. We deserve progress and solutions. In our organizations, our communities and our society we deserve better.

And, once again let me be very clear that I am not talking about the people we currently refer to as leaders, I am talking about our way of leadership…and that is something that we all contribute to. So, when I say that we deserve better, I am also saying that we can do better.

To provide an example of how we can do better, let us take a look at some disparities that we see in our organizations and communities…specifically disparities of outcome by race and gender. I think that “our approach” to disparities is very telling about the kind of “leadership” we have.

For example:

According to research from Catalyst, women represent just under half of the U.S. workforce (46.5% in 2008), and just over half of those in managerial and professional positions (50.8% in 2008). Yet women represent only 15.7% of Corporate Officer positions, and 15.2% of Board of Director positions for Fortune 500 companies. That is a disparity. That is an example of a significant inequality of outcome based on gender.

Time for another clarification. When I talk about having equality of outcomes, I am not saying “everyone should get the same thing” …I am not saying that we should all get to be CEO. I am talking about a statistically balanced outcome for all demographic groups. As individuals we all have different talents, different work ethics, different priorities, etc. So we are not going to end up in the same places. But, if we truly believe the things we claim to believe about people, that talent and ability are not determined by things like gender and race, then we should not have outcomes that are significantly skewed by gender and race.

 But the example at hand shows results significantly skewed by gender. Basically 1 out of 2 in the workforce is a woman, but only about 1 in 7 is a woman at the senior leadership level. We claim to believe that talent and ability are not determined by things like gender and race AND we claim to have a system focused on talent, and if those two things are both true we could never statistically have an outcome like this.

Our response to this disparity (and others) is very telling. There are three things that we tend to do regarding disparities, and none of them are very productive. Sure, there are some exceptions out there, but by and large these are the three typical responses:

1. We act like it is not there.  How often does your CEO or HR leader talk about gender disparities in the workforce? Do they talk about it at all? Have you ever heard them mention it? Enough said.
2. We get defensive.  There are a number of reasons for this…we get defensive because we are confused about the differences between intentions and outcomes, we get defensive because most of us are not comfortable talking about issues related to diversity, etc. Fact of the matter is we have to get focused on the outcome and stop making it about us.We have to wrap our brains around the fact that our intentions may be wonderful and delightful, but we can still be part of and supporting systems and processes that deliver biased results.We should be outraged by the outcome, not the fact that someone is bringing it to our attention.
3. We blame the victims.  When leaders and organizations are able to stop denying disparities exist and stop getting defensive every time they are mentioned, they tend to take some well-intentioned but not necessarily positive steps…generally in the form of a remedial leadership program. When you recognize that you have gender disparity in your workforce, especially in leadership and your only response is to role out a leadership program for women, you are basically saying that the reason the disparity exists is that there is some defect amongst women…you are saying that women are the cause of the outcome. A leadership development program for women could certainly be a part of the solution to a gender disparity, but the bulk of a solution would be a real development effort across the organization and especially for senior leadership, as well as a comprehensive and collaborative review of all practices and policies regarding attracting, engaging and retaining talent.

The thing that each of these responses has in common, is that they are not examples of leadership. They are all what I would consider to be the opposite of leadership…yet they are constantly being done by “leaders.” They each lack awareness, understanding, social intelligence and courage.

What kind of leader will you be?

be good to each other