CHAPTER 11
Developing Leadership Diversity
Chapter Outline
Leading People Who Aren’t Like You
Diversity Today
Leader’s Self-Insight
Values Balancing
Unconscious Bias
Social Values
Leader’s Bookshelf
Summary and interpretation
One main point of this chapter is that diversity is a fact of life in today’s world, and leaders can
create change in organizations to keep pace with the changing environment. The U.S. population,
the workforce, and the customer base are changing. In addition, organizations are operating in an
increasingly global world, which means dealing with diversity on a broader stage than ever
before. Diversity is defined as all the ways in which people differ. This definition has been
broadened in recent years to be more inclusive and recognize a broad spectrum of characteristics.
The inclusive definition of diversity embraces not only dimensions such as gender and race but
also characteristics such as work style, nationality, and income level. There are several reasons
why organizations are recognizing the need to value and support diversity. Diversity of thought
provides a broader and deeper base of experience for problem solving and is essential to keep
Today’s leaders face significant challenges leading people who are different from themselves.
The first step for leading diverse people is understanding the hardships that people who do not fit
the mainstream white, U.S.-born, male culture often endure. These include prejudice,
stereotypes, and discrimination, and the glass ceiling. Another important issue is global diversity.
Leaders can be aware of the impact culture may have, understand social and cultural value
differences, and develop cultural intelligence. People differ in their level of diversity awareness
and their sensitivity to other cultures, values, and ways of doing things. Leaders evolve through
Your leadership challenge
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
• Understand and reduce the difficulties faced by minorities in organizations.
• Apply an awareness of the dimensions of diversity and multicultural issues in your everyday life.
Key terms and concepts
Workforce diversity: a workforce made up of people with different human qualities or who
belong to various cultural groups.
Prejudice: an adverse feeling or opinion formed without regard for the facts.
Stereotype: a rigid, exaggerated, irrational, and typically negative belief or image associated
with a particular group of people.
Discrimination: treating people differently based on prejudicial attitudes and stereotypes.
Glass ceiling: an invisible barrier that separates women and minorities from top leadership
Individualism: a value for a loosely knit social framework in which individuals are expected to
take care of themselves.
Collectivism: a preference for a tightly knit social framework in which people look out for one
another and organizations protect their members’ interests.
Masculinity: a preference for achievement, heroism, assertiveness, work centrality, and material
life.
Introduction
Nationwide retailer Wet Seal offers “fast fashion at affordable prices” to a core customer group
of 13- to 23-year-olds. Young women love fun and trendy clothes, and Wet Seal, based in
Foothill Ranch, California, has grown rapidly by providing them in mall stores and online. But
some African American former store managers say the company provides something else as
well—an example of “old-school, straight-up discrimination,” as their lawyer Brad Seligman
lawsuits. In addition, many companies have learned that valuing and supporting diverse
employees pays off. Today’s best leaders realize that diversity sparks innovation, leads to better
decision making, and spurs growth. Yet subtle bias and hidden discrimination is still a significant
problem in many organizations, and intermittent grievous acts such as the ones at Wet Seal also
occur.
Annotated lecture/outline
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Leadership Challenge #1: Understand and reduce the difficulties faced by minorities in
organizations.
I. Leading People Who Aren’t Like You
The benefits of diversity are one reason the face of America’s organizations is beginning to
change, with women and minorities slowly moving into upper-level leadership positions.
However, there are still many challenges for creating diverse organizations with inclusive
New Leader Action Memo: Complete the exercise in Leader’s Self-Insight 11.1 to learn about
the values you will bring to leading people who are diverse and not like you.
The cultural values and organizational systems in many companies do not genuinely support and
value diversity.
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Leadership Challenge #2: Apply an awareness of the dimensions of diversity and multicultural
issues in your everyday life.
II. Diversity Today
The goal for today’s leaders is to recognize that each person can bring value and strengths to the
workplace based on his or her own combination of diverse characteristics. Organizations
A. Definition of Diversity
Workforce diversity means a workforce made up of people with different human qualities or
Exhibit 11.1: Traditional vs. Inclusive Models of Diversity
The dimensions of diversity shown in the traditional model reflect primarily inborn
differences that are immediately observable, such as race, gender, age, and physical ability.
However, the inclusive model of diversity includes all of the ways in which people differ,
B. Changing Attitudes toward Diversity
Attitudes toward diversity are expanding partly because they have to as leaders respond to
significant changes in our society. In the United States, the minority population is now
roughly 100.7 million, making about one in three U.S. residents a minority. Around 32
In the Lead: Secret Intelligence Service (M16) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
James Bond need not apply. Britain’s secret spy agency, M16, has embarked on an intense
campaign to recruit women and minorities, not the white males who have long been the face of
M16. The agency’s recruiting Web site encourages women, including mothers, to apply.
Applications from disabled candidates are also welcomed. But the biggest push is for ethnic
minorities who speak languages such as Arabic, Persian, Mandarin, Urdu, and the Afghan
Leadership Challenge #3: Encourage and support diversity to meet organizational needs.
C. The Value of Organizational Diversity
All organizations need diversity of thought to achieve high performance. This diversity of
thought means there is a broader and deeper base of ideas, opinions, and experiences for
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can hire and promote people from diverse cultures
and with diverse human characteristics. You can use organizational diversity to improve
creativity and decision making, better serve customers, and enhance organizational flexibility.
Culture plays an important role in determining the goods, entertainment, social services, and
Discussion Question #2: Why is diversity of thought important for today’s organizations? Do
you think an organization can have diversity of thought if all employees are of the same race and
approximately the same age and background?
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III. Challenges Minorities Face
Creating an inclusive environment where all individuals feel respected, valued, and able to
develop their unique talents is difficult. Most people, including leaders, have a natural tendency
toward ethnocentrism, which refers to the belief that one’s own culture and subculture are
inherently superior to other cultures. Studies by social psychologists suggest that there is a
New Leader Action Memo: Take the quiz in Leader’s Self-Insight 11.2 to evaluate your
personal degree of unconscious bias and think about ways you can become more diversity-
aware.
A. Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination
Prejudice is an adverse feeling or opinion formed without regard for the facts. Prejudiced
people tend to view those who are different as deficient. An aspect of prejudice is
stereotyping. A Stereotype is a rigid, exaggerated, irrational, and typically negative belief or
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can appreciate differences among people but shed
stereotypes and prejudicial attitudes. You can avoid discrimination and view differences among
people as positive or neutral.
Sociologist William Bielby proposes that people have innate biases and, left to their own
devices, they will automatically discriminate. Unconscious bias theory suggests that white
males, for example, will inevitably slight women and minorities because people’s decisions
Discussion Question #1: Do you agree with sociologist William Bielby that people have innate
biases and will automatically discriminate if left to their own devices? Discuss.
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B. The Glass Ceiling
The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that separates women and minorities from top
leadership positions. Women and minorities can look up through the ceiling, but prevailing
attitudes are invisible obstacles to their own advancement. Women represent only a small
Leaders in other countries are struggling with similar diversity issues. Criticism of gender
inequality in Germany is growing, as most European Union countries have narrowed the wage
gap between men and women, but pay disparity in Germany is actually increasing, according
to figures from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.
Exhibit 11.2: Primary Domestic Responsibilities of High-Achieving Men and
Women
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can fight ethnocentric attitudes. You can create an
environment in which people value diverse ways of thinking, dressing, or behaving, and you can
help break down prejudice, stereotypes, and the glass ceiling.
Although some women voluntarily leave the fast track, there are many who genuinely want to
move up the corporate ladder but find their paths blocked. The greatest disadvantages for
women leaders stem largely from prejudicial attitudes and a heavily male-oriented corporate
culture.
In the Lead: MetLife
Leaders at MetLife consider women to be an integral part of the company’s global vision and
strategy, but they realize that women are underrepresented at the top of the organization. They
created a leadership development program called Leadership Circles specifically to advance and
support women with high potential.
The program teaches women to apply leadership concepts such as creating an inspiring vision,
setting goals, aligning action plans, and developing a team to their own personal development as
By gaining clarity about what they want and how they plan to achieve it, participants enhance
their performance in their current jobs and gain skills for moving into senior leadership roles in
the future. One financial advisor increased production by 45 percent as a result of the program
and became a part of the MetLife Leaders’ Conference, which is reserved for top-performing
advisors. An operations manager improved efficiency in a key area from 48 percent to 74
Discussion Question #5: Why do you think many women opt out from seeking higher levels of
corporate leadership? Discuss why you think this either is or is not a trend that might hurt
organizations over the next decade.
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IV. Ways Women Lead
There is some evidence that men may become less influential in the U.S. workforce, with
women becoming dominant players, because women’s approach is more attuned to the needs
and values of a multicultural environment. Women’s approach is more attuned to the needs of a
Consider this: Are Men Failing?
Here are some recent observations in the United States that suggest men are falling behind in
today’s world:
1. The most recent recession hit traditionally male-dominated industries the hardest. In 1954,
2. Men still dominate the top of organizational hierarchies, but women are gaining in other
areas.
3. Of the 15 fastest-growing professions, 12 of them are dominated by women.
4. Although men still earn more, men’s incomes have generally declined in the past decade
5. In 2011, 57 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 60 percent of master’s degrees, 51 percent of
6. Both Republican and Democratic political consultants say that, all else being equal, women
candidates are now more desirable than men.
Overall, women’s participation in both the labor force and civic affairs has steadily increased
since the mid-1950s, whereas men’s participation has slowly but steadily declined.
When there is a major upheaval in society, the people who were at the top of the old order of
Discussion Question #6: Take another look at this chapter’s Consider This box. What might be
some reasons men seem to be falling behind in today’s world? If this is true, why is it that
women are still so poorly represented at higher organizational levels?
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A. Women as Leaders
According to James Gabarino, an author and professor of human development at Cornell
University, women are “better able to deliver in terms of what modern society requires of
Exhibit 11.3: Comparison of Male and Female Leaders by Their Subordinates
One survey of followers rated women leaders significantly higher than men on several
characteristics that are crucial for developing fast, flexible, adaptive organizations. Female
leaders were rated as having more idealized influence, providing more inspirational
motivation, being more individually considerate, and offering more intellectual stimulation.
Idealized influence means that followers identify with and want to emulate the leader; the
B. Is Leader Style Gender-Driven?
Several researchers have examined the question of whether women lead differently than men.
Although they are broad generalizations, social science research suggests that predominantly
communal qualities, such as compassion and kindness, are more associated with women in
general and predominantly agentic qualities, such as assertiveness and competitiveness, are
more associated with men.
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can choose to employ an interactive, collaborative
leadership style. You can develop personal relationships with your followers and make everyone
feel like an important part of things.
Interactive leadership is a leadership style in which people develop personal relationships
with followers, share power and information, empower employees, and strive to enhance
others’ feelings of self-worth. Some psychologists have suggested that women may be more
relationship oriented than men because of different psychological needs stemming from early
In the Lead: Cindy Szadokierski, United Airlines
Twenty-five years ago, Cindy Szadokierski quit her job teaching high school French and went to
work as a reservations agent for United Airlines. Today, she is vice president in charge of
operations for United’s largest hub at O’Hare International Airport.
From the beginning of her career with United, Szadokierski wanted to be in operations because
she liked the idea of bridging the gap between what goes on in the field and what happens at
Although the values associated with interactive leadership, such as inclusion, relationship
building, and caring, are generally considered “feminine” values, interactive leadership is not
Discussion Question #3: What is interactive leadership, and why might this approach be
increasingly important for all leaders in the twenty-first century?
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Leadership Challenge #4: Consider the role of cultural values and attitudes in determining
how to deal with employees from different cultures or ethnic backgrounds.
V. Global Diversity
One of the most rapidly increasing sources of diversity is globalization, which means that leaders
are confronting diversity issues across a broader stage than ever before. For leaders interacting
behave appropriately.
Exhibit 11.4: How Do You Shake Hands?
A. The Sociocultural Environment
Social and cultural differences may provide more potential for difficulties and conflicts than
any other source. Cultural factors have created problems for leaders in some U.S. corporations
trying to transfer their diversity policies and practices to European divisions. Policies
New Leader Action Memo: Social value differences can significantly affect leadership, working
relationships, and organizational functioning. Answer the questions in Leader’s Self-Insight 11.3
to better understand the social values of your classmates or coworkers.
Discussion Question #10: The chapter described a conflict at a meatpacking plant over providing
break times for Muslims to pray. How might leaders accommodate the needs of diverse groups
without offending other groups or appearing to show favoritism?
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B. Social Value Systems
Research done by Geert Hofstede on IBM employees in 40 countries discovered that mindset
and cultural values on issues such as individualism versus collectivism strongly influence
organizational and employee relationships and vary widely among cultures.
Exhibit 11.5: Rank Orderings of 10 Countries along Four Dimensions of
National Value System
Exhibit 11.5 shows examples of how countries rate on four significant dimensions:
• Power distance. High power distance means people accept inequality in power among
Austria, and Israel.
• Uncertainty avoidance. High uncertainty avoidance means that members of a society
feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity and thus support beliefs and
behaviors that promise certainty and conformity. Low uncertainty avoidance means that
people have a high tolerance for the unstructured, the unclear, and the unpredictable.
High uncertainty avoidance cultures include. Greece, Portugal, and Uruguay. Singapore
and Jamaica are two countries with low uncertainty avoidance values.
• Individualism and collectivism. Individualism reflects a value for a loosely knit social
framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves. Countries with
individualist values include the United States, Great Britain, and Canada.. Collectivism
How leaders handle cultural differences can have tremendous impact on the satisfaction and
effectiveness of diverse employees.
Discussion Question #4: Discuss ways in which low power distance as a social value among
followers could affect their interaction with a leader who displays high power distance.
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C. Developing Cultural Intelligence
Cultural intelligence refers to a person’s ability to use reasoning and observation skills to
interpret unfamiliar gestures and situations and devise appropriate behavioral responses.
Developing a high CQ enables a person to interpret unfamiliar situations and adapt quickly.
• Physical component refers to a person’s ability to shift his or her speech patterns,
expressions, and body language to be in tune with people from a different culture.
Developing a high CQ requires that a leader be open and receptive to new ideas and
approaches. Working in a different country is one of the best ways people can stretch beyond
their comfort zone and develop a broader, more global perspective.
D. Leadership Implications
A study of executives in five countries found that although the globalization of business
seems to be leading to a convergence of managerial values and attitudes, executives in
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can develop cultural intelligence. You can study
other languages and cultures and form relationships with people from different countries. You
How leader behavior is perceived differs from culture to culture. There is tremendous
variation across countries in what people expect leaders to do and be. Problems can occur
when unaware leaders from one culture interact with employees from another.
Exhibit 11.6: Are Leaders Expected to Be Experts?
Discussion Question #7: Why is it important for today’s leaders to develop cultural
intelligence? Do you think a leader who has never had experience with people different from
himself or herself can develop the ability to smoothly adapt to culturally different ways of
thinking and behaving? Discuss.
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Leadership Challenge #5: Break down your personal barriers that may stand in the way of
becoming an inclusive leader.
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VI. Becoming an Inclusive Leader
One goal for today’s global organizations is to ensure that all people—women, ethnic minorities,
younger people, gays and lesbians, the disabled, older people, racial minorities, as well as white
males—are given equal opportunities and treated with fairness and respect.
Exhibit 11.7: Stages of Personal Diversity Awareness
Exhibit 11.7 shows a model of five stages of individual diversity awareness and actions:
• Stage 1: People see differences as a threat against their own comfortable worldview and
frequently use negative stereotyping or express prejudicial attitudes.
• Stage 2: People attempt to minimize differences and focus on the similarities among all
people.
In the Lead: Rachelle Hood, Denny’s Restaurants
It was a spring morning in 1993 when six African American Secret Service agents sat waiting for
their food at Denny’s for more than an hour while their white colleagues ate. Their meals arrived
just before they had to leave. The highly publicized incident led to other revelations of
discrimination against African American customers and employees—and to a series of racial
discrimination lawsuits. Thirteen years later, a Denny’s executive received the “We Share the
Dream Award” at the 18th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Dinner. How did Denny’s
go from worst to first? It comes down to top leader commitment and some serious training to
improve diversity awareness and behavior.
After settling the discrimination lawsuits in 1994, Denny’s hired Rachelle Hood as its first chief
diversity officer. Hood got the company to hire more than 100 diversity trainers and
sensitivity to working in the restaurant business. In the “We Can” training program, for example,
employees learn a three-step model: (1) prevention, such as how to behave in order to reduce the
possibility of a guest or fellow employee feeling that he or she has been discriminated against;
Hood cemented diversity awareness by working with leaders to increase supplier diversity,
developing marketing campaigns targeting minority customers, and tying managers’ bonus pay
to meeting diversity goals. In 1993, only one of the chain’s franchises was minority-owned, the
company had no minority suppliers, and the board was made up primarily of white males. Today,
however, things are very different:
• More than 40 percent of Denny’s franchises are owned by minorities.
• During a recent 10-year period, Denny’s contracted nearly $1 billion for goods and services
Thanks to these advancements, Black Enterprise magazine named Denny’s one of the best
corporations for African Americans, and Fortune continually ranks Denny’s in its list of
“America’s 50 Best Corporations for Minorities.” Denny’s turnaround is one of the best
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can advance to higher stages of diversity
awareness and action. You can commit to valuing diversity and providing equal opportunities for
everyone.
Discussion Question #9: Do you think people and organizations can ever become gender- and
color-blind? Discuss.
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VII. Ways to Encourage the Advancement of Women and Minorities
Personal diversity awareness is the first step to creating a culture that embraces inclusion and
enables all people to reach their potential, thereby enabling the organization to perform at its
A. Employee Affinity Groups
Employee affinity groups are based on social identity, such as gender or race, and are
organized to focus on concerns of employees from that group. These groups are sometimes
called diversity networks or employee resource groups. Employee affinity groups let
Important characteristics of effective affinity groups are that they involve senior leaders in
group events and that they find ways to directly contribute to organizational effectiveness.
New Leader Action Memo: As a leader, you can support the personal development and career
advancement of women and minorities by creating and encouraging employee affinity groups.
Use sponsorship to help high-potential minority employees reach higher levels.
Expanding employee affinity groups beyond providing personal support to enabling people to
bring value to the business helps organizations and individuals.
B. Minority Sponsorship
Another benefit of employee affinity groups is that people often obtain sponsors through their
affiliation with the groups.
Sponsorship refers to strong support from a powerfully positioned executive who is willing
Discussion Question #8: Recall a leader you worked for. At what stage of personal diversity
awareness (refer to Exhibit 11.7) was this leader? Explain. At what stage of diversity awareness
are you?
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.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Do you agree with sociologist William Bielby that people have innate biases and will
automatically discriminate if left to their own devices? Discuss.
Students’ answers may vary. Some may say that they agree with sociologist William
Bielby who proposes that people have innate biases and will automatically discriminate if
2. Why is diversity of thought important for today’s organizations? Do you think an
organization can have diversity of thought if all employees are of the same race and
approximately the same age and background?
A diverse workforce contributes to diversity of thought, which is a critical element for high
performance. People who differ in various ways, whether it be race, cultural background,