Leadership and Commitment
It is no secret that any diversity and inclusion strategy will fail without stewardship and action from organizational leaders. Yet while many leaders believe strongly in diversity and inclusion, they struggle to express their commitment in ways that create buy-in, understanding, and investment. This struggle may be even more acute in professional services firms, where the partnership structure can make top-down change difficult to enact. In addition, ambiguity and cynicism about diversity and inclusion often creates a tough audience of employees who can’t see what’s in it for them and are already feeling stretched and stressed to deliver on other business imperatives.
Catalyst can help. We have assisted organizations and executives in uncovering ways to “talk the talk” more effectively and “walk the walk” more visibly through discussion around the business case for D&I, their personal experiences, effective championship behaviors and actions, appropriate accountability mechanisms, and how to drive change through their direct reports and the rest of the organization. When we engage with management teams, we draw on Catalyst’s deep understanding of leadership challenges, experience working with senior teams, CEO Summits, and insights from our own Boards. We are proud of the respect that we have earned in this area.