Dedicated to sustaining leadership diversity, we’ve gathered insights from presidents, CEOs, and other top executives to share their strategies for maintaining momentum. From implementing mentorship programs to educating and holding leaders accountable, explore the thirteen diverse perspectives that can help your organization continuously thrive in its diversity initiatives.
- Implement Mentorship Programs
- Embrace Leadership Flex Capacity
- Integrate Accountability Mechanisms
- Set Short- and Long-Term Goals
- Embed Diversity in Performance Reviews
- Establish Diversity Councils
- Link Diversity to Business Outcomes
- Conduct Diversity Training Workshops
- Apply the REAL Framework
- Review Talent Management Regularly
- Integrate Diversity Into Strategic Planning
- Track and Celebrate Diversity Progress
- Educate and Hold Leaders Accountable
Implement Mentorship Programs
One thing I would recommend is to establish mentorship and sponsorship programs specifically aimed at under-represented groups.
Pairing promising talent from diverse backgrounds with senior leaders who can provide guidance, opportunities, and advocacy helps build a robust pipeline of future leaders. This not only supports individual career growth but also ensures that diverse perspectives are nurtured and represented at higher levels of the organization.
Maintaining momentum requires regular check-ins on these programs to assess their effectiveness and make necessary adjustments. By actively promoting and supporting diverse talent through mentorship and sponsorship, you create a sustainable approach to leadership diversity that goes beyond initial efforts and fosters continuous improvement.
Bradford Glaser
President & CEO, HRDQ
Embrace Leadership Flex Capacity
In the ever-changing landscape of leadership development and talent management, prioritizing an ongoing commitment to leadership diversity is a commendable goal and a strategic imperative.
To maintain momentum and drive continuous improvement, we work with our clients and organizations to embrace the concept of “flex capacity” in their leadership approach. This dynamic strategy combines multiple attributes, styles, and competencies, enabling leaders to adapt to various situations and challenges swiftly.
At the core of sustaining leadership diversity is recognizing its decisive competitive advantage. By cultivating a diverse leadership pool, organizations can respond with agility to market changes, customer demands, employee retention challenges, and technological advancements.
This flexibility is important in today’s fast-paced business environment, where the ability to pivot quickly can make the difference between success and obsolescence. Leaders from diverse and minority backgrounds bring unique perspectives and approaches, enabling more innovative problem-solving and decision-making processes.
The behavioral benefits of developing flex capacity in leadership are substantial. When leaders can adapt their styles to suit various scenarios, they make quicker, more informed decisions. This adaptability also fosters more motivated teams, as leaders can tailor their approach to individual team members’ needs and preferences.
Flex capacity should be an ongoing, evolving initiative rather than a one-time practice—a great recommendation for maintaining momentum and continuous improvement. Over time, a diverse leadership team engaged in flex capacity will demonstrate greater resilience under pressure, drawing from a wider range of experiences and coping strategies to navigate challenging situations.
Yemisi Iyilade
Avp Leadership Development Consulting, Pivotal Growth Inc.
Integrate Accountability Mechanisms
Commitment requires accountability, so I recommend integrating a variety of accountability mechanisms into how your team operates.
Some examples include setting SMART goals, training senior leaders on equitable hiring practices, holding regular progress check-ins, and transparently sharing results with the rest of the team. Adding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) objectives to senior leaders’ performance evaluations can help underscore their importance.
Diversifying a leadership team can take a long time, especially if there aren’t many open roles. You might also try things that don’t work and find you need to pivot your strategy. But when you embed accountability, you ensure this work remains an ongoing priority.
Alex Lahmeyer
Founder, Dei Consultant, and Career Coach, Boundless Arc
Set Short- and Long-Term Goals
I have two pieces of advice on this point. The first is to set both short- and long-term diversity goals so that you know what you ultimately want to achieve on a big-picture level. When you do this, achieving your short-term goals becomes a springboard into working on the long-term ones. Without those long-term goals, though, achieving short-term goals can instead lead to complacency and can end up sapping your momentum, because people see that you’ve achieved a small goal and don’t feel as strong of a need to keep striving for improvement.
For instance, if your long-term goal is to achieve true gender parity in your leadership, which is currently predominantly male, hiring a female executive is an excellent short-term goal. Once you’ve achieved that, you can celebrate the win while at the same time setting your next goal, which could be to equalize the number of male and female leaders, or to add someone who is nonbinary or transgender to the leadership team—something that you can move toward to continue improving.
My second piece of advice is to empower the current members of your leadership team who are from diverse backgrounds to be primary decision-makers and have authority and agency when it comes to directing your diversity efforts moving forward. The people who belong to underrepresented communities are more likely to have others from those communities in their professional network, meaning they can be excellent sources of referrals or sources of more diverse talent.
Along with this, they are more likely to notice unconscious or structural biases that are impacting your diversity efforts, or to identify changes you could make that would make your organization more equitable and inclusive for people from a variety of backgrounds and identities. Putting diverse team members in the driver’s seat can help you to stay on the right path and build off of your momentum to maintain your commitment to diversity in leadership.
Jon Hill
Chairman & CEO, The Energists
Embed Diversity in Performance Reviews
Ensuring ongoing commitment to leadership diversity requires embedding accountability into core processes through structured mechanisms like diversity scorecards. These tools track key performance indicators (KPIs), such as the percentage of diverse leaders and retention rates, offering a measurable way to monitor progress.
To maintain momentum, one effective strategy is integrating diversity goals into performance reviews for all leaders, making them a tangible part of their responsibilities. By tying diversity objectives to performance evaluations, leaders are motivated to achieve these goals as their career progression and rewards depend on it. This involves defining clear diversity goals, developing comprehensive scorecards, assigning accountability, embedding metrics into performance reviews, fostering an inclusive culture, and continuously monitoring progress.
This integration ensures leaders remain committed to diversity objectives, reinforcing the importance of diversity as a critical component of organizational success and driving continuous improvement toward greater inclusivity and equity.
Hannah Stegen
Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, CultureAlly
Establish Diversity Councils
Ensuring diversity at the leadership level will also involve embedding it as part of the overall organizational DNA and way of doing business. One suggestion is to have diversity councils or boards comprising employees at all levels and from all walks of life.
Through them, chief diversity officers routinely consult with, solicit feedback from, and receive guidance and new ideas on diversity initiatives. Our diversity council, for instance, meets quarterly, and its role involves:
- Providing feedback on our efforts.
- Receiving updates on the status of our various diversity initiatives.
- Giving suggestions as to how we can strengthen and elevate diversity efforts overall.
My council takes seriously its role in the decision-making process, from recruitment to policy creation, to ensure that diverse voices are heard.
This inclusive approach helps us keep our focus on diversity as an ever-evolving culture within the organization. Involving employees as members of these councils helps build ownership and accountability toward our diversity targets. This makes the effort to support diversity continuous and helps reinforce the long-term commitment to the leadership pipeline.
Jason Brooks
Co-Founder, UK Linkology
Link Diversity to Business Outcomes
I view leadership diversity as a strategic imperative that requires constant attention and evolution. We’ve moved beyond token efforts to create systemic changes in our talent pipeline and organizational culture. This includes revamping our succession-planning processes to actively identify and develop diverse talent, establishing employee resource groups to provide support and networking opportunities, and integrating diversity considerations into all major business decisions.
One key insight for maintaining momentum is to anchor diversity initiatives in business outcomes. By explicitly linking diverse leadership to innovation, market expansion, and financial performance, we create a compelling case for ongoing investment and focus. This approach helps prevent diversity from being seen as a separate initiative and instead integrates it into our core business strategy. We regularly communicate these links to stakeholders, reinforcing the critical role diversity plays in our long-term success and ensuring it remains a top priority across the organization.
Brandon Thor
CEO, Thor Metals Group
Conduct Diversity Training Workshops
Many companies fail to consider their readiness to support and retain their diverse talent, which can lead to negative outcomes such as employee turnover and limited innovation. I always recommend integrating ongoing community-building activities along with diversity training opportunities that help provide the tools for fostering an inclusive workplace. I’ve found that a great majority of people learn best through interactive workshops, as it provides a space for sharing diverse perspectives, which leads to a better understanding among teams. These strategies help strengthen employee collaboration, and they keep diversity principles top of mind.
Establishing a feedback loop is very critical for measuring success, so when I work with clients, I prefer tailoring assessment strategies based on specific needs. Focus groups are a great way for gauging employee engagement and understanding the effectiveness of diversity strategies. Anonymous surveys are excellent quantitative tools to assess workplace climate and to measure organizational capacity toward diversity.
Two things to always remember: Every step forward is a step forward, so whatever you do, don’t slow down your efforts. Also, remember to celebrate your wins. Sustaining the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion is a lifelong commitment, so be sure to celebrate along the way.
Dr. Rassheedah Watts
The Inclusive Community Architect, Dr. Rassheedah
Apply the REAL Framework
Ensuring ongoing commitment to leadership diversity requires continuous action and accountability. One effective approach is the REAL framework, which includes Revealing relevant opportunities, Elevating equity, Activating diversity, and Leading inclusively. This framework encourages leaders to constantly identify and act on diversity opportunities while integrating equity into all initiatives.
Additionally, incorporating diverse voices in shaping organizational policies and practices ensures that DEI efforts are collaborative and comprehensive. This approach helps maintain momentum and fosters an inclusive environment where all employees feel valued and heard. Regularly revisiting and adapting these strategies keeps the commitment to diversity dynamic and effective.
Andries de Villiers
Founder, Titan BattleGear
Review Talent Management Regularly
Focus on employee development and identification. Regularly review talent management and succession plans, looking for diversity gaps. If you don’t see them initially, dig deeper. Are there development opportunities missing for diverse talent, or are potential leaders simply not being recognized by their managers?
Alongside this, implement monthly recognition programs to highlight individuals within the organization who are making a difference towards diversity. Finally, encourage senior leadership to actively participate in Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and spend time with members. This ongoing connection fosters a culture that champions diverse leadership and ensures a strong pipeline for the future.
Kimberley Tyler-Smith
VP of Strategy and Growth, Resume Worded
Integrate Diversity Into Strategic Planning
Ensuring ongoing commitment to leadership diversity goes beyond the initial push. It’s about building a culture that continuously values and nurtures diversity. One essential approach we’ve found effective is integrating diversity goals into our long-term strategic planning. This means setting clear, measurable objectives for leadership diversity and regularly reviewing our progress. We also focus on mentorship programs and continuous learning opportunities to foster diverse talent and create a pipeline of future leaders. This way, we maintain momentum and ensure that diverse perspectives drive our innovation and success.
Cody Jensen
CEO & Founder, Searchbloom
Track and Celebrate Diversity Progress
Hold yourself and everyone accountable for progress. Make diversity a regular topic at leadership meetings, track metrics on hiring and promotion, and celebrate successes along the way. This keeps it fresh in everyone’s mind, proves you’re making progress, and motivates everyone to stay invested in building a truly diverse leadership team.
Paul Chow
CEO and Co-Founder, Design Dynamics
Educate and Hold Leaders Accountable
Making diversity a permanent part of an organization’s culture and processes goes beyond the initial efforts to ensure a commitment to leadership diversity. We emphasize ongoing education, accountability, and rules, including everyone at Templer & Hirsch and my work with the Prime Time Business Network.
Setting up regular training sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a key strategy. These meetings are more than just about raising awareness. They focus on real-world solutions, like recognizing unconscious bias and encouraging leaders to include everyone. For example, after a full DEI workshop, we hired 20% more people from different backgrounds to be on our leadership team over the next year.
Another option is to set up a diversity council. This council comprises workers from various backgrounds, and they meet once a month to discuss policies, suggest improvements, and ensure everyone stays committed. Their ideas were very helpful in creating programs like mentorship programs for underrepresented groups, which have helped retain and spread a wide range of talent.
Setting measurable goals and checking in on success regularly are important ways to keep moving forward. At Templer & Hirsch, we have clear goals for the number of women in top positions, and we check in on these numbers every three months. Sharing these goals and progress with the whole company makes everyone more accountable and responsible for the collective.
Listening to feedback is the best way to keep improving. We send anonymous polls to determine how our employees feel about our DEI efforts. Because of one enlightening poll, we changed how we hire people by making job postings more open to everyone. This led to a more extensive and varied pool of applicants.
We ensure that our commitment to leadership diversity remains strong and effective by making diversity part of our core values and remaining proactive.
Mark Hirsch
Co-Founder and Personal Injury Attorney, Templer & Hirsch
