The Evolving Definition of Diversity in Executive Roles
As a firm built on the foundation of leaders who have decades of experience at major corporations like Amazon, Lowe’s, Microsoft, and Wells Fargo, our team has witnessed firsthand the importance of prioritizing diversity in executive leadership and its impact on organizational culture. In today’s business landscape, diversity is about far more than just race and gender—it encompasses a multitude of dimensions, including age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, abilities, backgrounds, and perspectives.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to diversity. The intersections that matter most will vary from company to company, industry to industry. However, collectively, across the business world, the increasing inclusion of diverse voices and experiences is driving creativity, innovation, empathy, and a deeper belief in the power of inclusion, diversity, and equity (ID&E).
The necessity for a genuine understanding of why diversity matters to business success cannot be overstated. Companies with executives who embrace ID&E as a strategic imperative (i.e. those who recognize that diversity unlocks creativity, fosters cultures of belonging, and connects teams to an increasingly diverse customer base) will gain significant competitive advantage.
According to a new study from The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), 75% of larger companies are steadily progressing toward their ID&E goals.
On the other hand, those who fail to prioritize diversity will face more significant challenges with employee engagement, retention, and innovation. This is supported by a recent study from Accenture, which states that American companies leave $1.05 trillion on the table annually by not having inclusive work cultures.
This research supports our vision at Nexus—that prioritizing ID&E is more than a moral imperative—it’s a business necessity. As a firm, we are uniquely positioned to help client organizations leverage this as a strategic advantage through our deep expertise. We set candidates up to thrive long-term by providing ongoing coaching and mentorship throughout the recruitment process and beyond.
As this mindset shift around ID&E accelerates, executive search firms must also evolve. They need to:
Build out their recruiters’ expertise in the ID&E space
Intentionally integrate ID&E principles into their candidate searches and engagements
Develop the skills to coach clients who may be unaware or ignorant of diversity’s impacts
At Nexus, 6-month complimentary executive coaching is a pillar of our wraparound services. Led by Eddie Pate, Ph.D., ID&E expert and former Fortune 50 executive, coaching drives innovation. Eddie speaks to the importance of this offering in a recent podcast on Hunt Scanlon.
Fundamentally, the new definition of diversity stems from the increasing complexities and rapid pace of change facing modern businesses. Customers are more diverse than ever before. Business is global. Problems requiring innovative solutions grow more complex each day. In this fiercely competitive environment, companies need executive talent with the wisdom to inspire their teams by embracing the multifaceted nature of diversity. Search firms must assess candidates’ understanding of this new global business context and their capacity to lead through an ID&E lens.
The evolution underway is an exciting one. As our definition of diversity expands to be more holistic and intersectional, the power of varied voices, backgrounds, and perspectives in leadership will only grow—ultimately fostering greater innovation, employee engagement, and success in meeting the needs of our richly diverse world.