Improving diversity and inclusion in senior leadership
Improving Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in Senior Leadership is a workshop to help recruit diverse senior management. It provides a framework to understand that the underlying problem is systemic, the difficulties that accumulate over time for diverse candidates aiming for senior leadership positions, and it gives you practical advice and tips on things you can actually do right now to make a difference.
In comparison with other D&I documentation and reports there are three emerging differences:
1. In most work it seems there is no integrated explanation why changes should be made along with how to practically change things as an individual and systematically. With this presentation these points are covered,
2. In most work the cumulative effect of discrimination across an individual's lives is either not explained in depth or is not mentioned at all. This is actually an extremely important point when looking at senior leadership recruitment and is covered in this presentation.
3. In most work it is common to use numbers, percentages and the idea of being more productive to prove diversity is worthwhile. This is a subtle form of dehumanisation and can make it more difficult to ensure that people see this as a moral and ethical issue. This presentation focuses on the use of stories and logic to explain without using dehumanising numbers (up until visualising intersectionality unfortunately).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rowland is a thought leader in Diversity and Inclusion not because it is his job, nor is it a hobby or a passion, it is a coping mechanism to take back some control in a system that is inherently out of his control. Because Rowland is the most privileged person in his family, he has been working on improving how people understand and action Diversity and Inclusion. Practical, long-term change is difficult and can be exhausting. This is why he started the website https://www.rowlandm.com – to collate resources that he felt would be able to be scalable and change people’s minds. He has given talks to Australian, American and European audiences with consistent positive feedback that has already made a difference, including building three diverse teams at the leadership and technical levels.
