Now is the time to look at the opportunities offered by diversity.
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International Women’s Day 2023 – and we hear men complaining that they are treated unfairly in the face of equality policies and diversity strategies. Seriously? The causes and consequences of the events are twisted here: it’s not about privileging women or other social groups. It’s about eliminating injustice, eliminating uneconomical grievances.
The road to equality is not a recreational journey. And the number of seats in first class, to stay with the metaphor, is limited: if it is a matter of course for women, people with disabilities, people with Turkish surnames or people with LGBTIQ backgrounds to sit in executive chairs or at a cabinet table, because they are the best, there is less seating space for representatives of the group that has dominated decisions up to now. And in Germany, these are still men with light skin, a similar sociological background and typically German names.
Equal opportunities and lived diversity are morally imperative and anchored in our Basic Law. The economy has long known that they are worthwhile. That’s why it’s not just about corporate governance. Solution approaches from all corners of the workforce should flow into business models. Discriminatory patterns at all levels should dissolve. Encrusted company cultures should break up. Such changes are exhausting for everyone. But they are explicitly the target.
Inevitably, this also means that members of the group that has been endowed with power up to now will have less influence. You will make decisions less often and end up in coveted positions less often. It is impossible to encourage one without restricting the other.
That may feel unfair in individual cases: you haven’t done anything wrong yourself, you’re working just as hard as before. But now is the time to look at the opportunities offered by diversity. When the concept of diversity is lived, the whole benefits. An idea paper no longer ends up in the wastepaper basket just because it was written by someone who the dominant group of people does not trust. Risks are recognized in good time because mixed teams counteract a yes-man culture. Many colleagues can finally contribute their full potential because they no longer exhaust part of their identity by hiding it.
Lived diversity for solutions in uncertain times
We need lived diversity in order to find solutions in these uncertain times – when war is raging again in Europe, the climate crisis is endangering our existential basis, while at the same time digital revolutions and artificial intelligence are enabling new business models and destroying others.
Those who are ready for changes, a change of perspective and innovations, also in relation to themselves, will find a good place in a world with real equal opportunities – maybe even on a board chair. Anyone who rejects this development to protect their own privileges disqualifies themselves.
More: Don’t worry, gentlemen!