Whatever your take on the US mid-term elections, one success story is the record number of women both standing for and elected to the House of Representatives. At the time of writing the final results have still to be declared but already we know that when the new contingent take their seats they will include the first Muslim and Native American women elected to Congress as well as the youngest female representative at just 29 years of age.
Not only that, those who stood have come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, including those who immigrated to the USA from countries such as Ecuador and Somalia. As a result those charged with governing the USA will be able to draw on a wider range of talents, backgrounds and experiences than ever before.
When we bring true diversity to leadership, our ability to better represent the needs of our customers and investors and our ability to make stronger and more thoughtful decisions is enhanced. So much so that a McKinsey report on diversity from January 2018 revealed that companies in the bottom quartile for both gender and ethnic/cultural diversity were 29% less likely to achieve above-average profitability.
When we bring diversity to leadership we can truly make great things happen.
