Leadership
Damaged Goods
Robert Rodriguez , 07-12-2009
American diversity executives better pay attention to what’s happening in the world because it will definitely impact their global diversity initiatives.
If we thought it was tough before to convince other countries that diversity, inclusion and civil rights are worth emulating, the global economic slowdown just made it a whole lot tougher.
Many outside the U.S. wholeheartedly agree the worldwide financial crisis emerged as a result of a successful fiscal policy that brought extraordinary U.S. economic growth for the past quarter-century.
During this time, wealth in stocks, bonds and real estate soared. We assumed the growth of multifaceted financial products actually reduced risk. Thus, we didn’t hesitate to rush into investments and debt levels that otherwise would seem dangerous.
Since debt was cheap and interest rates were low, we could borrow money cheap, and we often spent beyond our means. Quarter after quarter, we saw tremendous economic growth as we pushed for more risk and debt.
Because a market correction never came, those who pushed for more leverage were encouraged, given huge financial rewards and granted more power. Critics were labeled pessimists and naysayers and grew more silent with each quarterly economic report.
Some say the result was American arrogance, but our financial success granted us global influence as the rest of the world viewed the United States as having the most modern, sophisticated and productive economy in the world. American ideas, including our perspective on diversity and inclusion, became more attractive.
Those who didn’t follow our agenda were scolded. As Newsweek International columnist Fareed Zakaria said so eloquently, “the U.S. played the part of the stern schoolteacher rebuking a wayward classroom when it didn’t follow our agenda.” Those of us in senior diversity executive roles likely found it easier to promote the U.S. ideals on diversity and inclusion to our global entities during this time.
But now we are all fully aware that the golden age has come to a startling end. The crash of 2008 has ushered the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression. We have seen the destruction of approximately $50 trillion in assets in the global economy. We have nationalized many of our largest mortgage lenders and automobile companies, seen the largest number of bankruptcies in history and grown tired of terms such as “bailout” and “stimulus package.”
Because the financial crisis delegitimized America’s economic power and influence, selling American ideas to the rest of the world — including our stance on diversity and inclusion — will now require more effort.
Diversity executives can expect to see lukewarm acceptance and overt challenges to our perspectives on civil and human rights. Since more and more of us work at global corporations, we may also see more resistance from our business-unit leaders located in countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Korea, India and Afghanistan. Many of these countries have views on civil and human rights that are quite opposed to United States ideals of diversity and inclusion.
The International Monetary Fund estimates 100 percent of global growth in the next few years will come from emerging markets and countries. This fact will make the leaders in these emerging markets and countries more confident and willing to challenge our diversity perspectives.
Further, are we really prepared to push back against our Chinese subsidiary leaders on how they may treat women or oppress religious freedom in the workplace if they are driving economic growth for American corporations?
Before I go off the deep end, I often remind myself the U.S. is still the single most important country on the globe — at least I think so — and we can still exercise tremendous influence. But for those working in senior diversity executive roles at global corporations, we had best not forget that narrow nationalism by countries with questionable human and civil right policies may indeed trump our enlightened perspective on inclusion.
Diversity executives better pay attention to the global consequences of the American economic meltdown and how they impact our political, military and cultural agendas. If we don’t tread carefully in the global diversity arena, other countries may resent us and decide to go their own way with regard to how they handle diversity and inclusion. «
Dr. Robert Rodriguez is director of the Center for Corporate Learning at Kaplan University and author of Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain & Develop Hispanic Professionals. He can be reached at editor@diversity-executive.com.
