Question: What are leaderships changing roles and responsibilities as organizations become more diverse?

Dr. Reimann: Marie, do you want to take an opening shot at that?

Speaker: Absolutely. Can you imagine what it would be like to say no to Dr. Reimann? I just can't imagine. From a standpoint, primarily changes that I see, and changes that Dr. Reimann so lovingly refer to as we've been in business for a while, seasoned, been there, done that, and it is that transition from command and control to the coach, the mentor, the developer, the listener, the one that communicates and sets direction, that sets high performance expectations, but then role models that behavior. And so what I see more and more evidence of is that they are change agents. Leadership's responsibility from my personal perspective is to get you outside of your comfort zone, to help you grow, to be better, and to do that in any number of ways, but I do see leadership being the agent of change to improve the organization and the employee's capabilities in the process.

Dr. Reimann: Jack, would you like to add to that picture?

Speaker: Sure. The subject of leadership is a big one, has lots and lots of different dimensions, I think the thrust of the question is specifically about diversity; as organizations become more diverse, then so what in the terms of roles of leaders. The way I look at this is well, why do we require our organizations to become more diverse, what's going on here? They are becoming more diverse because opportunities are being offered to more and more people as opposed to some years ago when opportunities were only for certain sectors really. That is the way it was working, so the way the people in the workforce, and therefore in the organizations, much more represent the communities in which we live around the world. So our leaders are forced to be more in touch with what are the natural constituencies of both markets and their employee populations. And it's a great forcing function for leaders then, if they haven't already been thinking about the diversity of the world where we operate, to see it everyday, and to be thinking about it, and that means that . . . so with that long preamble, what leaders have to do differently, and what is different about their roles now is that they are forced to be more and more and more in touch with the diversity of the world around them, and its an opportunity for those who take advantage of it and say hey, here are some market segments or here are some people segments within potential employees or partnerships we might have that we haven't tapped in to. So that means that there is a great capability within a particular employee population group or whatever, for a lot of talent there that we haven't tapped before and if we get them before our competitors do, we will be ahead. So that is the opportunity that lies in front of leaders, and it is just waiting there to be grabbed. And opportunity in terms of different dimensions of diversity, they are the obvious ones that you see when you say oh I can recognize them by sight. But there are some that you can't see, like decision making styles, who is an introvert, who is an extrovert, and who has what other preferences in life that you may not now about at first, that in fact add to the strength of the organization if you can appeal to those and make it healthy for people of diverse backgrounds to really contribute. So, bottom line, there is a big opportunity for leaders, as organizations become more diverse, to tap in to the benefits that can accrue from those dimensions of diversity. And from the other side of it, the leaders who don't wake up, they are going to be left behind.