6843: The Old Realities Of New Realities.

Wanted to briefly comment on the panel discussion featured in a previous post. The New Realities of Hiring & Inclusion presented a handful of executives discussing diversity in advertising at the 4As 2009 Leadership Conference. Overall, it was an engaging and provocative step towards keeping the topic on the industry’s radar.

It would be great for future panels to star more active advertising agency figures, especially from the creative, account and media disciplines. Hearing personal stories firsthand would be enlightening and inspiring.

It would also be nice to integrate the proceedings. Creating an inclusive culture demands giving everyone a role in the revolution. Latinos, Asian Americans, LGBT and others should be represented at such roundtables.

More importantly, White people must participate too. They should not be relegated to audience status, as it only perpetuates the propensity for delegating diversity.

In fact, someone should organize a panel comprised entirely of Whites, and let them share their specific tactics to eliminate exclusivity. The truth is, minority executives will best motivate minorities. But White executives will best motivate their peers. Of course, this requires identifying White executives making a difference.

Finally, during the Q&A section, an audience member spoke about diversity and confessed, “We suck at it.” He then asked the panel to forget politeness and deliver advice and instruction. Here’s where the panel dropped the ball. The response should have been something like the following:

You’re right—you do suck at it. Why? And why are you comfortable openly admitting it?

We’re at the 4As 2009 Leadership Conference, which implies most of you are leaders. It’s 2009, people. Where have you been for the past 40+ years on this issue?

This is not a new problem. Yet you’re content to settle for old solutions that have consistently proven unsuccessful. You’re asking us for input? We don’t have hiring authority. You do. Why the hell aren’t you coming up with answers?

It’s unacceptable to sheepishly say, “We suck at it,” as if your self-deprecating comment absolves your abject ignorance and failure. “We’ve got to do better.” “There’s a lot more we can do.” “We’ve got miles and miles to go before we sleep.” Repeating these types of statements over and over makes you look disingenuous—and pathetic.

If you were unable to crack a client’s problem for four decades, would you still be in business? Wouldn’t your ineffective bumbling warrant immediate termination?

This event is symbolic of your chronic behavior. You sit on the sidelines and watch. You recognize the dilemma and do nothing. You express heartfelt concern, yet your actions indicate you really don’t give a shit.

Before you can embrace New Realities, you must abandon Old Realities.