38 Flock Around and Find Out Winners Keep Score By Rhonda Payne, CAE I run a leadership development program designed to prepare diverse talent for senior roles across our industry. It was launched in 2020, with the idea that it would help address the glaring lack of representation at the top. Back then, the Board was on board. Now? The same leaders who championed this initiative are questioning its value. They’re reading headlines about DEI “failing” and asking why we’re still throwing money at this program when there’s “nothing to show for it.” I’m exhausted. It feels like all the progress we’ve made is slipping through our fingers. How can I defend this program and convince them it’s worth staying the course? —Losing Ground First off, Losing Ground, I feel you on this. Getting a leadership development program for “diverse talent” up and running is no small task, and I applaud your heart for this work. But let’s pause on that phrase for a moment: “diverse talent.” Diverse from who, exactly? Do you mean everyone who isn’t a white man? Black professionals? I mean, it was created in 2020. Or, women? Something else entirely? “Use your words,” is something I always say when helping purpose-driven leaders become more fluent in inclusive communication. Trust me on this, precision matters. Now, let’s address your actual concern. Maybe if you’re struggling to see progress, it’s not the concept that’s broken. It’s the execution. Sounds harsh, I know, but hear me out. The gap between intent and impact—whether it’s something we said, did, or created—is often where we trip up. And in this case, it sounds like your program’s theory of change might need some adjustments. Do you want to stay the course, or do you want to move the needle on the actual goal? Let’s go back to the beginning and consider a better way forward. Get a Game Plan: The PRESS Framework Good problem solving benefits from an evidence- based process, and DEI is no different. One of my favorite ways to ensure associations have one is by teaching us to use the PRESS framework: » Problem Awareness: Perhaps you’ve noticed something organically, or maybe you decided to look under the hood with an audit to see how things are going. Either way, problem awareness is where it all begins. We’ve observed something that suggests we—our organization, our industry, our board—have a problem. » Root Cause Analysis: What you don’t want to do, when you see there’s a problem is jump right into throwing tactics at the wall (not to mention time and money down the drain). First I need us to dig deep. This part isn’t easy, or sexy. It’s the part where we ask why, and then ask it again, and three more times after that. Just like in healthcare, there are a lot of reasons someone might get a headache. Through quantitative and qualitative investigation, we need to diagnose why the symptom we observed is happening if we’re every to land on the best ideas to treat it. FLOCK AROUND AND FIND OUT Ready to turn your ‘what’s that?’ into ‘aha!’ moments one concept at a time? Flock Around and Find Out is an advice-style explainer series dedicated to unpacking the nitty-gritty of terms, ideas, habits, and theories that threaten to trip us up on our association leadership journey. Q A Did you determine that senior teams lacked diversity because underrepresented people lack skills? This assumption reinforces stereotypes and ignores the reality of systemic barriers. What if that’s wrong (it is). What if, even with superior credentials and greater expertise, the “diverse talent” you’re focused on still doesn’t end up in the C-suite? Keep asking why that is. There are a lot of reasons. Lean In surveyed more than 15,000 employees and more than 280 HR leaders, who shared insights on their policies and practices for their annual Women in the Workplace study. It didn’t point to professional development, it points to a “broken rung” issue during the earliest career stages as one of the most significant barriers to arriving in senior management later in a woman’s career, and it wasn’t because of their qualifications, leadership skills, or ability to negotiate raises and promotions. FOUL ON THE PLAY.
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