White Men

Last month I discovered a surprising possible family connection during research on my ancestors -- it has caused me to reexamine my beliefs about the complex issues of race and socio-economics.  I've considered this exploration as a mostly personal journey.  But in the past few days, I've been struck by two items that I think are directly relevant for professional service firms that want to achieve global marketplace leadership.

The first is Kennedy Information's Consulting Magazine, which typically features one-on-one interviews with management and IT consulting firm leaders.  I was surprised to see that the last issue featured IBM's Ginni Rometty.  It's exceedingly rare for Consulting Magazine to feature anyone other than white males.  Of the last 29 issues that I've read (since late 2004, and I admit I've missed a few), I've counted 25 white men, two Indian men and two white women -- both Ginni!  Even before my renewed interest in the issue of race and its "role" in society, I admit I have been getting tired of seeing so many white guys in senior leadership positions at professional service firms.  Is the proportion of white males to everyone else just a reflection of Consulting Magazine's editorial choices?  Is it a reflection on the "talent" that's available?  Or is this an opportunity for a renewed focus on all professional firms' strategic choices to attain a global competitive edge?   I'd wager that most professional firms (regardless of sector) have not done a lot of substantive thinking about diversity as it relates to marketplace leadership. 

The second is a fascinating post on Tuesday (including a few linked articles) by Steven Levitt on his Freakonomics blog.  It describes his and a colleague's new research on racial differences in test scores.  Regardless of where you stand on their findings, the results offer professional service marketers an important springboard to "call the question" about their firms' approaches to diversity and hoped-for global growth. 

Sure, some may say, "Geez, Suzanne, diversity is an issue for HR . . . Compensation . . . Training & development, our nation's educational system, blah blah blah . . . ."  But if you're a senior marketer and if you're supposed to be guiding your firm to be more strategic about its marketplace growth, the issue of diversity has got to be on your radar screen.