STEP ONE: Flat facts are undeniable, so lean on them. Any board should see the flat facts about the labor force before they make decisions about the composition of their boards because it cuts down the desire to move to emotional levels of response.
STEP TWO: Ask where are you today as an organization? That view of where a company is today on its' overall hiring and promoting behaviors will tell you very quickly if you have broken rungs and or hard glass ceilings. In an increasingly cross-cultured world, seeing these hard failings should encourage you to recognize the need to get qualified and culturally rich candidates direct P&L experience. We cannot improve our perceptions of others unless we allow them to own a metric that measures success.
STEP THREE: Be honest with yourself and where you need to be. Ask yourself how to build a personal support network of those with similar experiences. AT&T has recognized this, and it has a network of networks inside AT&T to get support working for diverse communities. Programs like this started 50 years ago, and new ones are popping up today as the cost of creating them is almost zero. People belong to multiple tribes at the same time, so belonging is vital as people have various dimensions. In effect, having many moments of connectedness across these support networks builds the skills, knowledge, and confidence needed. Anne created one of AT&T's fastest-growing Employee Networks AT&T Women of Business, which has 4,800 members across 27 countries.
STEP FOUR Build from the bottom up as a living organism We need to ask ourselves if the organization who I am and what I want to become in a new world of near-perfect information about companies, cultures, and diverse representation at management levels. We should be asking ourselves if the company fits you. Technology has awakened our expectations, so decisions about where we work with and what that company represents about inclusion and diversity should be part of a personal formula.