On D&I: Should we be doing more?

The short answer is "Yes, absolutely." I've been involved in D&I topics for more than ten years now and I've been around for more than half a century. I have seen a lot of change, I have seen a lot of activity - but it's not enough.

I work for Swiss Re, an amazing company in many ways where we take Diversity and Inclusion very seriously with a variety of programs that have, over time, become part of who we are, our culture, our way of being. But even we could be doing more. I read about D&I topics, I see what other companies are doing, I follow global movements and I feel the societal shifts. And so I know that some (companies, industries, governments) do very little, some do what's required, some act for the sake of showing action and some simply do the right thing.

We can talk about changing things - or we can change them.

A lot of what's been talked about for years could be changed right at this very moment, right now. Mind you, things are happening. Things are moving in the right direction ... but I want more, I see better ways, healthier ways, more holistic ways. And I don't just want more - I want it now. After years and years of being immersed in D&I topics, I'm growing impatient. I see a decent amount of action, I see companies talking the good talk, but it feels as if they are way too comfortable with where they are.

I recently attended the Advance Women conference Leadership conference where research results revealed that we could speed up gender parity at leadership levels far more quickly if we took action today - the steps are simple. Leadership around the world could taken action on them this very day. However, reality shows that companies are far more comfortable taking incremental steps that don't rock the boat and, fundamentally, do not challenge the status quo. Gender's just one topic. when I mention Sexual Orientation, Generations, Mental Health, Physical Disabilities ... you'll likely have a different sense with every term - maybe that something's changed, or that something's changing, or that nothing's changed. Fact is, we can do more on every front.

Another D&I event I attended was entitled "Inclusive Leadership" ... Deloitte showed some meaningful slides that showed six signature traits of inclusive leaders. They are, according to their study: "Commitment, Courage, Cognizance of bias, Curiosity, Cultural intelligence and Collaboration". Here the article on the topic for more detail. Absolutely key is Cognizance in this - a powerful sense of awareness of oneself and one's surroundings. What followed was a panel discussion that offered the same old tepid statements and once again I felt my impatience grow. D&I topics won't change any time soon and so I do not expect anything new there. Workshops, seminars and conferences will continue as they have. But from companies, industries and governments I expect action. Decide. Today. 

While topics remain the same, the "new" that can be, is "decisive action". 

As I have mentioned in the beginning, we have moved, we are more inclusive today than we were in the past, we are more aware of our biases, we are more engaged and engaging and we are more collaborative. But I still see far too many places where we're not - whether that's inclusive leadership or the gender glass ceiling, whether that's going from tolerating to accepting and embracing LGBT or closing the gender wage gap. There's plenty of opportunity to take decisive action. 

Have we become complacent these past years? I feel that too many of us are just fine. Too many of us are okay with talking about it. Too many of us are happy to attend events and report about it ... I'm not. It irks me every time I hear something I've heard before and nothing has changed in the meantime. It irks me to see old ideas bubble up as if they had not been there before. Sometimes the time for an idea hasn't come, I understand. It is important to bring things back up, time and time again ... but at some point action must follow. We can take action, real action. And yes, real action means real change and change will always be uncomfortable for some. Significant changes come about when passionate individuals stand up and take action. I think that's what we should do going forward - do the events, by all means - but make them about action.

Lead by example. Lead by belief.

Be the D&I Ambassador within your company and bring about change ... and then carry that change out into the world. Sounds too grandios? It isn't. This is just about action, about the belief behind it and the courage to take it and the resilience to stick with it. Our mantra at Swiss Re is that "We make the world more resilient." That's exactly what we do, on a daily basis, in a thousand different ways. But this isn't about Swiss Re, this is about every company, this is about all of us - and we can all make the world more resilient - by taking decisive D&I action.