Welcome to episode 161 of The Executive Edge with Neal Frick.

Neal has worked in executive leadership positions in a traditional, conservative industry of defence in the US. He found it more difficult because leaders miss the mark by not focussing on inclusion and instead espouse old school ways of doing business.  He feels this does not serve business anymore.

He advocates a new wave of doing business. More often we respond to a singular issue such as the need for flexible working practices after women return to work from maternity leave. This specific response to an issue happens because a group of people demand it.  Business then tries to rise to that challenge. Neal feels things should be more rounded than that.  He suggests that we can continuously stay ‘on top of inclusion’ if we talk to people more.

He thinks it’s a combination of things. People who are not part of marginalised communities can be very well intentioned and want to provide equity but may not know how to. They tend to wait until something happens and then respond. But the way to do this effectively is to ask what people need. And also, to look at other industries that thrive with better practices and see how your business compares.

Listening to people when they are directly asked, helps you not only provide better practices at the time, but will also attract more talent.  People circling your business will see how responsive you are. It may feel more comfortable to ‘wait’ for issues, but doing things well is feasible. He starts by setting up focus groups that are representative of your workforce.

What other mistakes do we make?

Many of us also look at how customers respond to us, and if we used a senior person in the role and our customer was happy for example, then we might assume that this is what’s needed next. Neal feels this happens genuinely but not making changes misses out on the different world view each generation may offer. In other words, a younger person may have something to offer we can’t even foresee.

He’s written a great book ‘The E-suite, empathetic leadership for the next generation of Executives’. Much of what he espouses in here touches upon millennials but isn’t exclusive to them.

He finds that previous experiences he’s had comes from bias, or ignorance of what people need. Younger people have a natural desire for inclusivity because their generation is one of the first to work hard at that from the ‘get go’. They expect it therefore.

He espouses something he calls ‘profitable empathy’ and that you can unlock the magic of millennials through a desire to explore what they have to offer. I found this a great topic and Neal was very inspirational. I hope you find this episode equally interesting.