Tag Archives: DEIB

My next move – serving on a large or medium size company corporate board

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As a large corporation executive and a successful small business CEO, what is my next logical move? Right now I am seeking corporate board of director positions to leverage my broad business experience, creativity, entrepreneurial success and strategic thinking including DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging)

As a CEO, Business Strategist, and Board Member, I have spent over 25 years advancing organizations by turning around failing teams and innovating solutions for customers to drive peak operational effectiveness.I have been fortunate enough to experience all areas of the Sales, Marketing, Finance, Product Design & Operations functions within Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.

I excel in launching, leading, and scaling business transformation, technology optimization, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (DEIB) initiatives. I drive growth in programs tied to human resources management, strategic planning, financial management, market growth, sales enablement, company and community branding, product design optimization, and employee experience.

So what do I have to offer as a potential board member? I can provide:

I have deep expertise in strategic planning

• Strategic oversight. Facilitating strategic conversations to help develop and refine an organization’s strategic plan. As a consultant I have assisted a number of clients in strategic planning.
• Independent judgement. Guiding by offering impartial advice to support and challenge management’s decisions constructively while designing creative solutions to turn around problematic areas.
• Governance. Mentoring executives to ensure adherence of sound governance practices and ethical decision making.
• P&L and Risk Management. Evaluating and mitigating financial, operational and reputational risks while advising on maximizing P&L results
• Organizational Leadership. Driving business success by integrating expertise across sales, marketing, product development, finance, operations and HR to align organization functions for maximum impact.

I do have vast experience serving as a volunteer on a number of nonprofit boards and led such activities as setting up financial processes, budgeting, strategic planning, policy development and executive search.

Please contact me [email protected], and I can send you my detailed board bio, and if you know of any board searches or potential board searches in your network, please pass along my information. And I have a lot more detail on my expertise, sample articles, testimonials and more on my LinkedIn page.

A Men’s Employee Resource Group – Really? Why? Four Reasons

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Men are a vital part of the diversity mix and need networking opportunities too.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), often call Business Resource Groups, are employee led groups supported by company leadership around groups with common identities. The most popular groups are women, race and culture-based groups, LGBTQA, Veterans and People with Disabilities. Over the past few years ERG efforts have expanded into groups like Mental Health and Wellness, Parents / Caregivers, Environment Awareness and more.

ERGs ideally serve both the needs of employees and the organization around DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging) initiatives and organize activities around leadership development, recruiting, community outreach, workplace culture and more.

Now more organizations, including one of my best clients which I have helped launch ERGs and training their leaders, have started Men’s ERGs. And this has raised some questions like:
• Why do we need a men’s ERG? They are not an under-represented minority within our organization.
• Men hold most of the power and privilege in our organization, so why would they need a group?

Yes, there are valid questions. And here are four valid reasons for the legitimacy of and the need for Men’s ERGs:

1. Men are indeed a crucial part of the diversity fabric. DEIB is about all of us working together to leverage our unique differences for good, not setting up a “We vs. Them” culture. We should never frame the discussion as one of the “diverse and the un-diverse.” Everyone is part of diversity. This also now provides availability of all employees to join an ERG that aligns with their identity in addition to joining as allies.

Men are now taking more responsibilities at home and with children.

2. Men are now facing many of the same challenges that women have always faced in the workplace, especially as men in today’s culture are taking more responsibility for managing the home and raising the children. Men also may need to discuss challenges like managers who are OK with women on the team needing to leave early to pick up a sick kid from school, but look unfavorably upon their male employees who need to do the same.

3. Men can have in depth discussions on how they can work together to promote DEIB instead of being labeled as “the diversity problem.” They can team with the women’s ERG to discuss how men can better support and mentor women in the workplace and better understand challenges and issues women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities face.

4. Finally, there are some industries and organizations where men are indeed an under-represented minority.

It is great that ERGs are continuing to grow and expand into more areas so that everyone can participate in advancing DEIB in the increasingly diverse interconnected global economy.