Diversity and inclusion — from a buzzword to reality

Chris Kyriakidis
Nov 3 · 4 min read
Terrifying Terrain by Elizabeth Murray | Oil on shaped canvases | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Today I had the pleasure to spend 5 hours at the Metropolitan museum in New York. I have always encouraged my team to dedicate one day for reflection each month. Today was my reflection day.

But it was not the astounding works from Picasso, Van Gogh, El Greco or Turner that inspired me the most today; it was the below painting made by Margareta Haverman (born 1693 — died after 1739), a Dutch artist with a Danish father. As a woman artist, Margareta was not allowed to paint nude models and therefore put her effort into painting flowers. Her talent gave her access to study in the Royal Academy of Arts in Paris, from where she was expelled. According to her files, the reason was unknown, but probably her being the “wrong“gender had something to do with it. Margareta managed to stay in arts for just 6 years and only two known and signed works of hers have remained: one in Met and the other one in Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen.

A vase of flowers by Margareta Haverman, 1716 | Oil on wood | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Looking at her incredible talent that was not allowed to flourish in the world without diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity, I started to imagine how much better the world of art would have been if women were allowed to study arts and paint any subject they desired 300 years ago. Expanding on that, I started to imagine how much better place the world would have been if women were given the same opportunities as men and were able to challenge the status quo. Just imagine how much more we would have as human kind reached up until now if diversity and inclusion in general, not just for women, were entailed in our leadership principles.

I am hearing many leaders and CEOs talking about diversity, inclusion and organizations “looking like their customers“. Few walk the talk when you take a look at their own leadership teams. More often than not, you find these leaders surrounded by a group that shares their ethnicity, cultural background, nationality, social class, education, network and dress code — just because it is convenient to have a homogeneous team. What these leaders forget is that homogeneous teams do not create innovation. These same leaders seem to at the same time believe that women who share all the similar traits with them bring diversity in a global organization. These women, feeling the pressure and need to prove that they are not there just for the sake of diversity, might find themselves adapting their leadership style and behavior to stereotypical male traits, which sadly, leads to no less cases of discrimination and harassment. All other traits of the leaders being the same, in a global organization, gender alone cannot be the source of diversity.

I remember when I asked 20 years ago the previous CEO of L’Oréal, Lindsay Owen-Jones, how he selects his executive team, he said “by choosing the poète et paysan”. The poète et paysanculture that brings diversity in leadership perspective has played a role in making L’Oréal the robust and innovative group it is today. This approach to diversity that goes beyond gender is something that we can learn from.

As I would like to contribute to changing the leadership principles of our world and prepare the next generation of leaders that will understand the power of diversity and inclusion and apply it effectively, I will take on a pro bono role as brand strategist and advisor to the Chairman of the Right to Dream Group.

The Right to Dream Group was founded in 1999 with objective to identify talented children with disadvantageous background and provide them with a transformational foundation. Through Football, Education and Character Development, the group opens opportunities to world class professional pathways; enabling young people to change their reality, become impactful leaders and give back to their communities.The outcome so far: more than 70 graduates of the “Right to Dream” academies have become professional football players and joined top clubs such as Manchester City, Chelsea, Porto and Dortmund, and more than 50 graduates of the “Right to Dream” academies received full scholarships to study in prestigious universities such as Stanford, Michigan and Georgetown

It is the duty of the current generation of leaders to make sure that diversity and inclusion become a reality instead of mere buzzwords and KPIs. I want to make my humble contribution towards this world and help the next generation to take the giant leap, instead of waiting hundreds of years, just like women artists have struggled to be recognized as equal to their male counterparts.