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As always, those at the top have a way at looking at obstacles as opportunities, as diversity and inclusion expert Fiona Krautil recently discovered. She shares some of the insights she gleaned after talking to chief executives about their gender and diversity challenges.

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alfway through interviewing 10 Chief Executives - from the Chief of Australias Army to the MD of Microsoft - for the upcoming sequel to my 2003 book, CEOs Unplugged: Business Leaders Get Real about Women and Business, its fascinating to reflect on whats changed and what hasnt with regard to workplace diversity and inclusion. Whats new is that each CEO I have met with so far understands that his or her diversity issues are not a gender or race problem, but a business challenge and are consequently approaching their challenges with a business mindset. Instead of looking at diversity through a traditional compliance lens, these forward-looking thinkers instead view diversity through an organisational capability lens. By looking through a diversity lens to build and grow organisational capability, these CEOs believe they will attract and retain the best talent, increase innovation, improve decision-making and deliver better solutions for their diverse customers and shareholders. They have come to understand that talent comes in many packages.

These CEOS have come to understand that talent comes in many packages.
When I started my career I didnt see myself as a champion of diversity, Philippa Purser from Cargill told me. I thought it was so obvious that anyone who was good at what they did would rise naturally to the top, and that it would happen by itself. Its only when I realised that it wasnt happening and that we had to do something about it, and do it differently, that I became a diversity champion. Similarly Australias Chief of Army says: I came to realise that a diverse and inclusive workforce is an absolute requirement for us to be a modern organisation because it produces heightened capability. Diversity is a strategic journey Whats clear to these workplace chiefs is that harnessing workplace diversity will not be achieved with an ad hoc HR-driven approach. They all describe being on a strategic journey that by necessity must be led by the organisations leader.

Although each CEOs business is at a different stage on the diversity journey, these CEOs accept that a compliance approach allows differences to be tolerated. However, tolerance is
not always enough.

I dont like the word tolerance, says CBAs chief executive, Ian Narev. It sounds like you are extending a courtesy to see what you then might decide to retract. Thats not what we are after. If you dont start by setting very high standards of genuine openness and respect then you can go down a pretty slippery slide quite quickly. CEO champions of diversity also understand they cannot go it alone. As a result, they are constantly engaged in conversations with their leadership teams, with their employees and with experts outside the organization. They also work in partnership with HR to equip leaders with the skills to create inclusive teams by looking at talent through a diversity lens; by addressing unconscious bias; and by providing flexible workplace practices. I have an incredible leadership team and incredible people management community, says Pip Marlow, MD of Microsoft Australia. And we achieve inclusion outcomes as a leadership team in partnership with the people management community. So what hasnt changed? Business leaders concur: when it comes to diversity and inclusion, the pace of change is still snail slow. This is culture change. It takes a long time, and its repetitive and relentless. Execution is long-term and you have to stay the course, notes Narev. Other challenges include the narrow perception by many in business circles that diversity equals gender, while unconscious bias continues to undermine opportunity and appointment on merit. Assisting senior and line managers to evolve as inclusive people managers is another. And with the exception of the Microsoft MD I spoke to, business leaders find it difficult to offer flexible work conditions across-the-board. Also, despite talent pipelines becoming increasingly gender and racially diverse, senior leadership teams continue to be predominantly male and Anglo. Nevertheless, its encouraging to see more female leaders in charge, and at the helm of businesses once considered male domains. We also now have compelling business case research and best practice benchmarks and case studies on how to achieve a more gender-balanced and diverse workforce. For HR professionals, our role is to work in partnership with CEOs and leadership teams and encourage a strategic approach to diversity and inclusion, thereby delivering an empowered, inclusive and sustainable workplace. [ends, 750 words]