In the past a leader was a boss. Today's leaders must be partners with their people... they no longer can lead solely based on positional power. Ken Blanchard

You watch business after business promote diversity in the workplace and praise the benefits of multiculturalism. You may wonder if this politically correct fad will just go away. Some managers feel that a diversity strategy compromises the competitive advantage of an organization.

Can diversity be disruptive as well as destructive to an organization? Diversity should not mean changing the very nature of an organization. Clearly, going against your core values will never generate positive results. For example, the Episcopal Church allowing gay ministers is more about cultural change than diversity. Unfortunately, this institution has struggled to deal with cultural change.

Clearly, some causes may be worth fighting for in an organization. For example, the Boy Scouts continue be bombarded with stern opposition because of its core values. But, dont blame diversity on any cultural windfalls. There is a difference between diverse opinions and diversity. Cultural changes are plaguing our mainstream institutions as well as our leadership.

You cant ignore it. Johnson-Reece, author of Developing an Inclusive Marketing Strategy, maintains that organizations must align themselves witht much more culturally-diverse populations. However, an organizational leader must be the value anchor for organizations so that employees stay grounded in their core values. Likewise, organizations must indeed be to open to people of all walks of life, but organizations should never go against their core values.

Reference:

Johnson-Reece, Nicole (2004). Developing an Inclusive Marketing Strategy: organizations that value diversity in their workplace and support them with a focus marketing strategy will be industry leaders, Franchising World.

2006 by Daryl D. Green