I was reading a list of the top ten thinkers on Business Insider today and immediately smirked, knowing in advance that we weren't going to have any woman. I was mistaken. Nine men were mentioned on their own and then, a pair: a man and a woman together. Smart, I thought, that the woman co-wrote the book with her partner. Renée Mauborgne is co-author of the best-selling book Blue Ocean Strategy. Interestingly, there are no African Americans on the list at all and the only Asian man is in the pair with the woman. But one issue at a time!
I've been active in several groups, associations, and boards for a couple of decades now and one of the interesting ongoing conversations is bringing diversity into the groups. In this context, diversity means bringing in people of other ethnicities (other than Caucasian) as well as women, as most of these groups are all men. Yes, there is data to support that boards benefit from diversity. And there's also data to support that they don't.
Over the years, I have benefitted from participating in events, awards, and opportunities by winning minority leadership competitions or by joining all-women groups. A few years ago, I decided to stop thinking in this way and instead, directly integrate into groups without any mention of my gender (which is obvious) or my Hispanic heritage (less obvious), mainly because I focused on the collaboration and value I brought in.
Having said this, I have had several interesting experiences. With my latest book, Leading Under Pressure, I had a particularly telling experience. As you see, the title has "leading" in it and most leadership experts are men. I've had an executive buy several books as business gifts to his colleagues, later telling me of his surprise when some didn't seem to pay much attention when reading the cover—even though the book offered strategies that would benefit them directly. He attributed this to my being a woman. In another situation, I've shown the book to some men, who said, "I'll give it to my wife." This is simply because I am a woman, even though most of my clients are men. Being a medical doctor in addition to a leadership expert may benefit me in a specific niche, but, truth be told, how many bright and smart women feel their level of intelligence is underestimated?
