Benefits of Diverse Leadership
“Leaders develop the vision of society and institutions which guide us; Leaders have the power to make decisions which affect a significant number of people: An inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to lead: leaders symbolize who belongs and who doesn’t” (Maytree, 2007).
- Financial performance may be enhanced by diverse leadership
- Greater employee productivity and organizational performance have been tied to commitment to diversity
- Greater financial profits are tied to a well-managed diverse workforce
- Leaders shape organizational decision making, and diverse leaders are able to respond better to Canada’s increasingly multicultural markets
- Diverse leadership is more likely to attract and retain a diverse workforce
- Diverse teams are more likely to “think out of the box” and come up with innovative solutions
- Strategic innovation is the result of diverse voices
- Diverse senior management teams produce superior outcomes
- Diverse leadership offers role models for diverse citizens, shaping the aspirations of employees and young people
- The representation of visible minorities in Canadian media plays a critical role in shaping the aspirations (and success) of citizens. Leaders, whether in corporations, the public sector, or non-governmental organizations, are featured prominently in the media on a daily basis. Media has the potential to perpetuate harmful stereotypes or to promote positive role models
- Diverse leadership is critical to democracy and representation. The importance of the demographic make-up of the public service, especially at the most senior levels, is well-understood to be fundamental to democracy. The term “representative bureaucracy” was coined by J. Donald Kingsley’s in 1944:
“The democratic State cannot afford to exclude any considerable body of its citizens from full participation in its affairs. It requires at every point that superior insight and wisdom which is the peculiar product of the pooling of diverse streams of experience. In this lies the strength of representative government. Upon it depends the superiority of the democratic Civil Service over its totalitarian rivals. In a democracy competence alone is not enough. The public service must also be representative if the State is to liberate rather than enslave” (Evans et. al, 2008).
To find out more on the sources and statistics behind these facts, download Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute report.
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