Sotomayor, Diversity and Who Gets to the Top

“Anyone who has ever sat on a bench with other judges knows that judges are supposed to influence each other, and they do,” Justice Souter wrote in a 1998 dissent in a death penalty case. “One may see something the others did not see and then they all take another look” [Quoted in NYT, Sunday May 31, “The Waves Minority Judges Make,” Adam Liptak.]

I have to stop and ask, isn’t this the point of diversity, after all? If we wanted, in government or in our organizations, to have everyone thinking exactly the same – because they have shared backgrounds, experiences, styles, and cultures, then we seem to be wasting our time seeking diversity. All the furor about Judge Sotomayor bringing the insights afforded by her Latina heritage and her life experiences to the bench seems out of step with the efforts organizations are making to ensure that decisions, especially on such things as who should be groomed for future leadership, are made by a group of individuals with very different perspectives.

A “wise decision” is one that takes into account all of the facts of the situation – or, in the case of identification and development of high potentials, one that is able to get beyond the standard image of what a leader should look like (not only in terms of gender, race, and nationality, but also education, industry experience and career path). It’s important to note that Sotomayor – in the same speech – stated that it was possible that those from different backgrounds could also be attuned to the particular issues and experiences of those who may be from different backgrounds – but that this was considerably less likely to be the case. Her conclusion, translated to the organization context, is that what matters most is that there is diversity in the leadership team that chooses the next leaders. We might consider the recent appointment at CEO as an example.

Many of our organizations are striving to change the numbers at the top, but I sometimes wonder if they really think about why this is important. And, while I often become frustrated when so many organizations want to concentrate solely on “the numbers,” there is a reason, particularly at the top, that these numbers matter: they will open the door to a much broader perspective on talent, leadership, and what that “looks” like.

Let’s hope that organizations listen to the right words from all of the quotes that have been recounted from nominee Sotomayor.

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