"As with any kind of comprehensive change effort, nothing replaces strong and
courageous leadership. The early institution-wide diversity plans were all
initiated by individuals who took risks, articulated powerful visions, and
followed through with specific initiatives" (Humphreys, 2000).
Institutions with top administrators who were committed to diversity and who
were attentive to the search process and the ways in which candidates were
treated, were more successful in hiring scholars of color (Smith, 1996).
Make sure your diversity initiative encompasses the entire organization. Top
leadership needs to be the driver, providing forums and platforms for dialogue
(Campbell, 2003).
Top management's role should include such things as "communicating throughout
the organization the importance of diversity and why diversity training is being
offered; emphasizing how diversity is linked to the organization's overall
business goals; participating in defining and interpreting the issues
surrounding diversity in order to shape the direction of the efforts; listening
and responding to employees on diversity issues; providing resources to support
diversity training; modeling ways to effectively manage diversity; and providing
incentives for effectively managing diversity" (Wentling & Pama-Rivas, 1999).
Top executives need to set an example for others in the organization to follow.
They need to show others through their actions how important diversity is to
them and the organization (Wentling & Pama-Rivas, 1999).
Top management can emphasize the importance of diversity to the organization by
allocating resources to help ensure the success of diversity initiatives (Wentling
& Pama-Rivas, 1999).
Top management must give its full and continuing support to any diversity
initiative or even the best designed program is likely to fail (Beaver, 1995).
"In each company cited as the best in diversity leadership, there are two
components that are the driving force: a CEO champion and a strong diversity
officer" (Fraser, 2002).
"CEO's are increasingly responsible for hiring senior diversity officers, and
are often the drivers of policy directives and proponents of network groups and
succession planning" (Fraser, 2002).
"CEO's are central to diversity understanding and endorsement" (Fraser, 2002).
"Every CEO that is a diversity champion focuses on diversity as a business
strategy" (Fraser, 2002).
"It takes strong leadership at the top and a good working relationship between
the CEO and Diversity Officer to keep diversity a top priority (Fraser, 2002).
For any change effort to be effective:
For any change effort to be effective, have a lasting effect on an organization
and be truly transforming, it must be led and modeled from the top. Only the
organization's senior executives can provide the commitment, resources, and
credibility required to convince people in the organization to stop behaving in
the ways they have always behaved and to start adopting new, unfamiliar ways
that may initially feel awkward, embarrassing, and risky. Unless senior
executives live the behaviors, values and attitudes as the organization's new
way of life, the rest of the organization will continue to follow the old ways
(Miller & Katz, 2002).
The change cannot be seen as a social program. It must be connected to the
organization's business strategy. It must be described and modeled by the
organization's senior leadership team as the way it will conduct business from
now on (Miller & Katz, 2002).
