We believe that business leaders in the St. Louis region have, by now, thoroughly grasped the business case for diversity and inclusion. It is now understood among most of our regional leaders that, to be competitive, a business must be representative of the changing markets around it. The United States may have its origin in a government led by and for privileged white male landowners, but now it’s understood that, to be competitive in a very different world, businesses must be inclusive in their strategies for hiring, retaining and promoting workers, managers and executives. Obviously, not all of our business leaders, in fact, act as if they believe this to be true – cronyism, nepotism and “going with the guy you know” die hard as ways of doing business – but it is our sincere belief, based on close dealings with regional business leaders, that they now embrace diversity and inclusion as important corporate values.
It is important to emphasize that business leaders have not embraced these values simply for the betterment of minorities, women, the disabled, immigrants and others typically excluded from equal economic opportunity. In fact, they are simply responding to inexorable demographic change toward diversity and becoming enlightened based on self-interest. To profit from increasingly diverse markets requires insight into that increasing diversity, and that requires an increasingly diverse workforce and decision-making team. Global companmies and international travelers know you can always buy something without knowing the language, but to enhance your opportunity, make a sale or close a deal, there is value in knowing the local language and culture.
Also, if you want to attract and motivate a diverse and competent staff, it is essential that they see opportunity for advancement, and that means businesses need an executive leadership team that is diverse. A close look at the executive leadership teams of our major regional employers shows that these values have been articulated more than they have been implemented. We applaud the enlightened self-interest of our regional executives and urge them to be much more proactive and forward-thinking in putting these values into practice as they recruit new staff and executives as well as promote from within.
The need to embrace diversity and put inclusion into action extends beyond workforce and leadership to include contracting and procurement. If St. Louis is to realize more fully its considerable potential and become more competitive as a region, we need to build a more dynamic minority business community, and this means major clients need to diversify their contracting even if it means cramping some of their existing relationship with “guys they know.” Again, this is not charity, but long-term strategic thinking. The entire region is damaged by the noxious effects of concentrated, trans-generational poverty, which is disproportionately found in our minority communities. We need to build a more engaged and larger scale black business class that can provide examples and opportunities for youth who too often look for opportunity in the illegal underground economy.
We believe that opportunities for minorities to earn a fair share of jobs, leadership positions, influence, contracts and profits will increase, if regional leaders do not abandon their (in many cases, newfound) acknowledgement of the economic and social value of diversity and inclusion. With increased opportunity, however, comes responsibility. African Americans must accept responsibility for greater involvement in assuring that our youth are better prepared when opportunity presents itself. We need to be educated and prepared to participate and to be productive in environments that may not always be entirely familiar or hospitable to us. For make no mistake about it: opportunity is nothing more than the chance to work hard. We will ultimately succeed or fail largely based on our own actions.
