How to Build Diverse Leadership Teams by Enlisting Stakeholders

Make allies of people inside and outside your organization who are invested in strengthening talent pipelines.

- Karen Brown

When decision makers include individuals from varied economic backgrounds, generations, genders, races and ethnicities, sexual orientations, physical abilities, and religions, everyone is better off — employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and the people in the communities where businesses operate. I have worked with global companies for over two decades to advance opportunities for people who are underrepresented in leadership. The diverse teams we built became stronger, more trusted, more resilient, and more innovative and were therefore better prepared to create more value for their stakeholders.

We know that to change anything, you need influence, support, and action from people who are invested in the outcome. That’s why building partnerships with stakeholders both inside and outside the organization is a critical component of meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

From 2006 to 2009, I served as the global chief diversity and inclusion officer at Rockwell Collins (which later became part of Raytheon Technologies). When I started, the company was planning to hire 7,000 engineers in five years. It was easy to see that we could not meet our hiring goals without recruiting from a more diverse talent pool outside of the Midwest. Executives did not need convincing. However, our industry — aerospace — was male dominated, and the population in our location — Cedar Rapids, Iowa — was overwhelmingly White. Recruiting and retaining women and non-White employees had always been challenging, and I knew we would need help from inside and outside the company. I almost didn’t take the job myself.