How do you deal with the leader who resists diversity and inclusion while “pretending” to be on board?

This situation requires real skill. Your leader may be in denial and probably cannot see their true response to DEI. 

The whole point of DEI is to increase awareness. It is unrealistic to expect that everyone will transform years of family and social programming and suddenly adopt inclusive ways of thinking about others. In fact, “othering” is tied up with our culture, which focuses heavily on competition, winning, and “proving” worth. When all of these collateral values get stirred in the pot, you can expect inconsistent and sometimes baffling outcomes. 

Progressive leaders already understand that diversity is the wave of the future and that the organizations that adapt and adopt more inclusive hiring, promotion and training practices will earn a higher return on the investment than their reluctant peers. However, despite numerous studies affirming the value of a diverse workplace, POD casts, webinars, books, and pep talks, certain leaders find it difficult to move forward. They resist change and sometimes even disguise their resistance. 

Leaders who intellectually want to line up with DEI struggle internally to dispel myths, stereotypes, and various forms of ethnocentric behavior and “othering.” Then, there are those who have no intention whatsoever of making a shift. They prefer to operate and perpetuate a pyramid leadership model that celebrates Christian European American males and designates Asians, Africans, LatinXers, immigrants, refugees, females, physically challenged, LGBTQIA+, and many others as menial or less worthy. These categories operate seamlessly and invisibly, without anyone pondering true worth too deeply. They continue to proclaim DEI if public opinion requires it. Deep down, they resent and reject DEI. They see it as an effort to give the undeserving unearned social and career privileges. This is part of what feeds their ambivalence and inconsistent commitment to the cause. 

By and large, the “resisters” fall into two camps: those who openly resist change and those who pay lip service to it while consciously or unconsciously sabotaging diversity efforts. Often, it is easier to deal with open opponents. They are the ones who rely on dubious history and facts to justify a core rejection of differences. However, when confronted by persuasive facts, caring conversations, and consistent coaching, they might shift and start to ask the questions that will lead them to accept more inclusive hiring, promotion, and coaching practices. They might ultimately prove to be “teachable”’ and, therefore, potential allies of the cause.

The really challenging situations to address are those which include leaders who seem unconscious of their bias. They truly “believe” that they are operating from a neutral space. But, the results of their leadership cast doubt on their stated belief. Their minds lead them in one direction, but their actions/results contradict their DEI commitment. These are the leaders who pay for consistent DEI training and have a hefty DEI budget, but complain that they “cannot find qualified, diverse candidates” who span a range of beliefs, lifestyles, and languages. Often, these use “quality” as a benchmark, never making allowance for potential, transferable skills, or even analogous experience. They brandish this misplaced notion of quality and use it to discredit many talented leaders who come from non-European communities or who live a lifestyle that challenging traditional norms in some way. Such advocates of “quality” tend to on minutiae with infinite care (“Can we let this candidate in with a Master’s degree when others have a Ph.D.?” ”How do we know that they did the work at organization XXX, even though (s) he was CEO. How can we be sure?” ”I know she spent years in the army and practically became a 4-star general, but how do we know that she can manage staff and build trust?”) Ironically, while these discussing rage hot, the same questioning leader might have given their mainstream loyalists unfettered rights to terrorize others in the workplace. The resident bully in the Treasury Department stonewalls women, immigrants, and every employee perceived to be “other.” The CFO is heard spouting race-based profanities. Nothing is done to include “fringe communities.” The abuse continues. The consistent “othering” leads to attrition, frustration, and deflated DEI numbers. 

If you want to detect who might belong to the second group of inconsistent or ambivalent DEI advocates, look at numbers. When people assert and affirm values that align with DEI, the numbers will tell you a whole lot about the accuracy of that commitment.

To be sure, unconscious bias can and does account for a percentage of the discrepancy. But, certain leaders actually treat DEI as the next “flavor of the month,” and they knowingly bide their time, talking the talk and avoiding the challenging “walk” that will come with trying to implement more equitable hiring processes. One of the few ways to get at leaders who are willfully disrupted or unconsciously biased is to use one-on-one coaching as a means of reaching difficult issues. Other formats, such as lectures or small discussion groups, are less likely to be successful. Leaders can be skilled at masking their deeply held values and at appearing to conform while clinging to outdated values and thought-forms. Only a skilled coach will have the ammunition to peel away layers of (self) deception and get to the vulnerable place which fresh thinking can take hold and being a shift towards new ideas. This takes time, commitment, and, frankly, the will to change. Not all of these factors will coincide readily. Many recalcitrant leaders will retire without ever really having grappled with issues that have the potential to transform their worldview and to bring organizations to wholeness. We cannot expect to win every DEI battle; we can only try our best to awaken those who might be sleeping.

Karen Alphonse is a senior search solutions leader and resume, online profile, and career coach. Learn more about our consulting services and writing resumes, bio, and online profiles, reviewing job applications and interview coaching, or write to Karen at contact@execsearches.com.

Last updated on December 12th, 2021 at 06:29 pm