Article

By Martin Hartley, Managing Director

The Case for Disparity in Leadership Teams

It was days into the UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss’ leadership when she culled former PM Boris Johnson’s Cabinet (removing long-standing loyal heads like Priti Patel and Dominic Raab) for a new Cabinet stocked-full of her closest allies. Her Deputy PM and health secretary, Thérèse Coffey, for instance, is her constituency neighbour and closest political ally, whilst Kwarteng (Chancellor) and Cleverly (Education Secretary) live a matter of yards away from Truss – a factor that prompted The Guardian to label them ’the Greenwich gang’.

The BBC soon after reported a government in Truss’ own image could “provoke rebellion down the track” in that decisions that aren’t duly challenged and scrutinised may not lead to well-thought our nor fair policies. Rishi Sunak called for the newly appointed PM to appoint an inclusive cabinet and not “surround herself with loyalists” to little avail. Since assuming office, conversations have circulated around effective leadership styles, allyship, and whether creating echo chambers within teams can actually do more harm than good.

It’s understandable that leaders, particularly new ones, would want some allies around them to feel confident and ease themselves into the job.

It’s understandable that leaders, particularly new ones, would want some allies around them to feel confident and ease themselves into the job. Recruit a bunch of ‘yes’ people and it’ll be a job made easier. If one were to approach it from a psychological point of view, human beings are, in fact, wired to make similar people choices. From an evolutionary standpoint, our survival instincts have taught us to choose people that are familiar to us with whom we feel comfortable.

However, in today’s world, which thankfully has significantly different survival criteria than previously, teams made up of the same thinking processes are not fit for purpose, especially in a capitalist economy of continual business growth and innovation. Unless a leader is a complete visionary and unbelievable at revolutionising the way of thinking, how can a business adapt to changing climates and demands?

It’s important that a company enjoys diversity of thought and collaboration but avoids leaders who sleep in the same bed but dream different dreams.

The days of partiality in leadership have, for the most part, passed, and organisations are increasingly seeing the value of having a more diverse make-up of teams which offer variety of thought. A McKinsey report* of nearly 400 companies found those in the top quartile for diversity in management were 35 per cent more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean. Having a set of dissenters in teams who have grown up with different backgrounds, life and business experiences and viewpoints can help guide, challenge, and enforce better processes, systems, and strategies. Steve Jobs certainly wasn’t a one-man band – he had an army of allies and disruptors behind him helping him make informed, impartial decisions with long-term goals in mind.

The definition of a disruptor is someone who thinks a little differently to you – one that offers new ideas and new perspectives. Listening to different voices allows approaching services holistically and the ability to change and move with the times too. I was quoted recently in a Business in the News** article saying that good leaders should have at least half the room thinking differently to them and challenging them – in a respectful manner.

However, striking a balance is key. It’s important that a company enjoys diversity of thought and collaboration but avoids leaders who sleep in the same bed but dream different dreams. A level of cohesiveness and a joint long-term vision is the making of a successful recipe.

Sources

*McKinsey report
**Business in the news

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