Building Diversity
To build a high performance team.
About once a week, I receive an email from a random venture capital firm wanting to start a conversation about partnering with us.
And about once a week, after 30 seconds of research, I respond with the same templated email “No thanks.”
We like investors. We want investors. Our business model depends on investors.
So what happens in those 30 seconds to make me reject a potential investor?
I go to the “Team” page on their website.
The “About Us” page is almost always worthless. 99% of them say they bring “more than money” - they bring operational expertise, strategic guidance, or some other vague form of non-currency.
They say they can help us build a high performing team.
So I skip that page. After all, the proof is in the pudding.
I go straight to the Team page. That’s where the real money is. As in, it tells you what they really value.
And, unfortunately, 99% of the time, it’s a page full of white guys.
If they don’t have the operational expertise, or the strategic guidance, to intentionally recruit, hire, train, and invest in a diverse workforce - why would I trust them to help build my business?
The Diversity Problem
I write this article amidst chaos, pain, and protest across our country.
For the past week, crowds have gathered around the country to protest police brutality and systemic racism in America.
Most have been peaceful. Some have not.
Most have been part of the solution. Some have not.
As of this afternoon, every side has declared themselves a “winner” - but somehow we all feel like we’ve lost.
As an old white guy with a natural tendency to be an introvert, I have always been conflicted about the right way to address race relations, police relations, and, well, just relationships in general.
Like most important topics, this one is highly complex and yet, somehow, easy to diagnose.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Famous, wise, perfect.
But so difficult.
It’s easy as an individual, it’s nearly impossible as a society.
The problem isn’t that we are racist as individuals (the facts don’t back up that assertion). The problem is that we are racist as a society (bear with me, the facts do back this up - see https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2016/systemic-racism-is-real).
Which makes the solution really, really difficult. Because we think, as individuals, we are doing what is right, we don’t think we need to change.
And because we don’t make individual changes, we never have societal changes.
Until we realize that the problem with diversity is actually an individual one - we as individuals won’t change and our society won’t either.
Building Diversity
Shifting the blame to someone else is easy to do, because, regardless of your stance, there are plenty of convenient “facts” to support you and absolve you of personal responsibility.
There are studies about black culture contributing to racism (ex. - 57% of black kids grow up in a home without a father).
There are studies about white culture contributing to racism (ex. - white recruiters don’t call back job applicants with a black sounding name).
If you want an excuse to maintain the status quo, there are studies to support you. You can support your beliefs. You can support your bias. You can support your blindness.
You can quote studies and sound smart, but you can’t shift the blame and actually be smart.
You have to own the problem.
You can’t build a high performing team by blaming someone else.
The only way we solve this problem is by taking individual action.
As entrepreneurs. As executives. As leaders.
Which brings me back to the “Team” page.
If your company is more than ten years old, your team should be as diverse as your community.
You should have a recruiting plan, reviewed at least every year, that compares the diversity in your workplace to the diversity in your area.
And you should be proactive in building a talent system that recruits, hires, and trains people from all backgrounds.
“But the only qualified applicants happen to be white guys.”
That’s an excuse. That’s blaming someone else. That’s weak. And it builds a weak team.
Are you recruiting at black colleges? Do the pictures on your “Careers” page highlight people from minority backgrounds? Are any of your recruiters black?
Do you have a training program that proactively builds a pipeline of talent, starting at the intern level? If not, build one.
There is no excuse for not having a diverse entry-level recruiting class. None.
If you do have a diverse entry level training program, it won’t be long before you have diverse employees.
Which means, in a few years, your middle management should be diverse.
Which means, in ten years, your executive leadership team should be as diverse as your community.
If not, you have an operational expertise issue. You have a strategic guidance issue.
You have a systemic issue. You have a blame-shifting issue.
You have an individual issue that is destroying an entire society.
If your leadership team isn’t diverse, you won’t have a high performing team.
And you won’t have a partnership with us.
All you’ll have is my little email saying “No thanks.”
- Jonathon Kovar, CEO