Last night I had dinner with a coworker from a different office. He’s in town for work this week and we met tonight for some good food and great conversation. It got my thinking about a topic that I think is essential to leadership- and leadership is something near and dear to my heart. The topic we were talking about was diversity.
In his book Winning, Jack Welch quickly dismisses mission statements that reference integrity. It’s assumed- integrity for an organization is table stakes. You’ve got to have it just to sit down at the table and be dealt a hand. There’s nothing special about an organization (or leader!) placing a value on integrity. It’s expected- move on. Tell us something special.
Diversity, or more appropriately, understanding the value of diversity, is similar table stakes for a leader. There’s nothing magical about it. But you’d better understand it if you want to be an effective leader. Moreover, you owe it to your people if you are in a leadership position.
TMPinSYR 