Old White Dudes
Just finished up the first day of the Symposium for Chief Staff Executives and Chief Elected Officers. Overall good stuff, forcing you to think more deliberately about org leadership, board/staff relations, etc.
Aside from the program itself, one key observation was a severe lack of (obvious) diversity in the room. It was mostly a bunch of old white dudes (no disrespect). Of the approx. 150 attendees, I'd guesstimate 15% were women and 2-3% were African-American (as the easy ones to identify). I was probably the only one in the room under 35 years of age - and certainly the only one wearing jeans and comfortable running shoes...
More interestingly, we did a rushed form a quasi Myers-Briggs personality testing. When asked how many chair/CEO "couples" had 75% or more overlap in their scoring, a strong majority of the attendees got up. The summation being that we will likely get along nicely, but will have to work extra hard to incorporate alternate perspectives into our thinking and decision making.
So, not just a complete lack of diversity on obvious stuff like race, gender and age - but critical in ways of thinking and leading. Admittedly, this was somewhat surprising to me because I've always been amazed at the (obvious) diversity of the multitude of attendees at events like the ASAE's Annual Meeting. Hmm...
BTW, a wicked awesome book that provides the strongest case for diversity (across all/any factors) is Medici Effect - Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts & Cultures. I highly recommend it - was the most insightful/inspiring book I've read in a long time!
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Comments
Jason, it must have been luck of the draw. I will be there in the next group, Jan. 14-15th and there seems to be a solid representation of women and I represent the less than 35 crowd. What happens when we are considered old dudes?
Posted by: Thomas Stefaniak | January 12, 2009 7:07 PM
Retire! OK, just kidding. Regardless if we are old or white or dudes, we should always strive to surround ourselves with people NOT like us - different life experience, different perspectives, different cultures, different ways of thinking and doing, etc, etc.
Well, and, I should have said that I realize that a single conference is not the best sampling of association leadership...
Posted by: Jason Della Rocca | January 12, 2009 9:33 PM
Has anyone else paused to consider that the economic crisis might stifle the changeover in generational leadership we've heard so much about? (Or, to look at it positively, mitigate the coming shortage of nonprofit leaders?) If baby boomers delay retirement because of financial upheaval, what impact will that have on our industry?
Posted by: Betsy Boyd-Flynn | January 13, 2009 11:52 AM
I wonder how much of the overlap in personality types that Jason talks about is due to the way CEOs are hired? (I ask this having never been a CEO or having been at all involved in hiring a CEO, so please tell me if I'm just ignorant.)
I'm wondering how many boards end up hiring someone they're comfortable with because that person seems to think and behaves like they do. For that matter, I wonder how many boards would find it easy to hire someone who clearly thinks very differently than they do (and how difficult that person's life would be if they did get hired) ...
Posted by: Lisa Junker | January 13, 2009 12:40 PM
Boards not only hire people they feel comfortable with, they often hire people with similar job experiences. That's why there are so many industry professionals in association CEO positions and not enough association executives.
Posted by: David M. Patt, CAE | January 13, 2009 7:05 PM
Do Board's end up hiring someone they're comfortable with. Absolutely. Is it because a CEO seems to think and behave like they do? Not as much as you might think. What's overlooked is the growing diversity among members of associations, their search committees and boards. They are introducing a new, more demanding and sophisticated dynamic for CEOs. CEO's who can articulate a leadership vision, showcase versatility and resilience, demonstrate cultural sensitivity and deliver effective results will still win the day and top jobs. "Old white dudes" or not.
Posted by: Kerry C. Stackpole, CAE | January 15, 2009 11:00 AM
Hi, my name is Rick and I'm an old white dude. Our profession still as a long way to go to achieve the kind of real diversity that we continue to strive for. This was not a unique situation. The more exclusive the event, the more likely the percentage of old white dudes will be high.
And I second Jason's recommendation for Fran Johansson's book. Innovation is greatly enhanced by a diverse group of decision makers.
Posted by: Rick Johnston, CAE | January 15, 2009 3:44 PM