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Growing Your Consulting Business Through Diversity & Inclusion

By Chandre Torpet
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Diversity & Inclusion is a broad topic that intimidates many business owner and consultants.

For some, it is difficult to see how D&I is relevant to their work.

In this article, I’ll break down the subject of D&I and show how it impacts solopreneurs, consultants, and start-ups.

Defining Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity is the variety of demographics that form a workforce, group or society. We tend to think of the demographics of gender, race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, physical ability.

Minority/underrepresented groups are any demographic that has a significantly less population in a workplace or culture than a majority group and are less visible throughout the structure, hierarchy of an organization.

Inclusion is how various demographics are represented in all levels and functions of the environment.

In other words, diversity & inclusion refers to how well a business integrates diverse perspectives and backgrounds into its decision processes.

Can a company have diversity without inclusion?

If an employee or colleague feels that they are not recognized or valued as contributors to the organization, their sense of belonging and inclusion disappears.

A glaring example was the class action lawsuit against Tesla for over 100 complaints of racial discrimination and harassment. Black workers make up 20% of Tesla’s factory assemblers, yet there are no Black executives. (Los Angeles Times)

Can a company have inclusion without diversity?

No! A company with little or no diversity is not inclusive.

Instead, the business will have a culture of groupthink: a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without the benefit of alternative points of view.

I am a solopreneur/consultant. Is D&I relevant for my business type?

It is tempting to associate D&I with hiring staff. Most large companies focus on increasing diversity by attracting employees from different backgrounds. That is only one solution to D&I.

D&I is just as relevant for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are leaders and innovators. HBR claims “diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth.”

You are likely already using elements of inclusive leadership to run your business. Business owners influence the agenda and priorities of their business through all aspects of their work.

Solopreneurs can influence prospects to become clients via inclusive marketing & promotion. Consultants influence clients to work with their unique (diverse) ideas and methodology.

Diversity within the entrepreneurial sector in 2022:

  • The number of small and medium-sized enterprises worldwide stands at 400 million
  • There are a little over 25 million small and medium-sized enterprises In the European Union
  • Over 8 out of 10 small businesses have no employees
  • 27.1 million are run by a solopreneur (Forbes Advisor, 2022)
  • Men are 2 times more likely to start a new business than women
  • 40% of small businesses in America are owned by women (American Express, Finances Online)
  • Six out of ten people who start a small business are between 40 and 60 years old. (Guidant Financial)
  • Immigrants are 80% more likely to start businesses in the U.S. than native-born citizens

Source: Inclusive Matters

 

I am a minority business owner. Aren’t I already doing everything I need to do with D&I?

Minority business owners have to navigate a professional landscape that has added barriers of structural bias and systemic injustice, such as:

  • Less VC funding opportunities for women and minority-owned start-ups
  • Visa challenges for foreigners who become entrepreneurs in their host country
  • Biased procurement process that makes a preference for large suppliers over small suppliers
  • Unconscious racial bias in the pitching process for consultants

Diversity suppliers are companies owned or led by someone from a minority group.

As clients of B2B companies are demanding to work with diversity-minded businesses, a growing number of industries are adding “proof of diversity” to RFP processes.

The companies are requesting a diversity policy, data on the diversity composition of the staff (percentage of women and other minority groups), and evidence of working relationships with diversity suppliers.

This is an opportunity for diverse led companies to highlight the diversity supplier distinction with their ideal prospects.

Diversity Is Sustained by Inclusive Leadership

Deloitte introduced the 6 Traits of Inclusive leadership:

  1. Curiosity to ask
  2. Courage to engage in deeper talks about new perspectives
  3. Cultural Intelligence: recognizing that experiences differ based on different culture/background
  4. Cognizance: knowing that you don’t know it all, and willing to ask “what am I missing?”
  5. Commitment to the continuous work and focus on inclusive practices
  6. Collaboration: consistently work with people who bring new perspectives & ideas

D&I seems like a touchy-feely topic. Shouldn’t business owners focus on running a financially sustainable business?

I met with my client, the CEO of a multinational online marketplace. In our first scheduled talk about his perceptions of D&I in his work, he started the conversation with the question,

“Does this have to be one of those touchy-feely talks?”

I responded, “Oh, is that how you run your other meetings?”

“No,” he responded.

Ok- so why should this be any different? I’m here to talk about the business of D&I and the opportunities it has to impact your bottom line.”

D&I is crucial for every business.

Healthy companies make use of a range of experiences to understand opportunities, identify challenges and evaluate risks.

Welcoming multiple views on the possible outcomes of an action is key to building a stronger business.

The stakeholders of your business will have different experiences and perspectives on life.

As many businesses are user experience-focused, it is important to show curiosity about your client’s needs and understand the product that you are creating for those users.

Here’s how inclusive leadership makes stronger entrepreneurs:

  • They use their influence to push D&I within their business as well as in their client market
  • They are cognizant of the diverse supply of minority-owned businesses
  • They collaborate with unexpected partners, suppliers, and stakeholders
  • They identify & tap into unconventional (innovative) business ideas before others

A lack of diversity within the group signals that you are working within an echo chamber. Echo chambers hinder innovation and growth.

I am already pulled in many different directions. How can I prioritize D&I too?

Try an Act Of Inclusion. 

Inclusive Matters defines an Act Of Inclusion as “the everyday gestures and behaviors that invite and welcome new people, and their perspectives, into your environment.”

Here are 5 acts of inclusion that any entrepreneur can build into their business

1. Build a diverse personal advisory board

To make more inclusive decisions for your business, form a personal advisory board.

All that is needed is a trusted group of 5-6 people from different backgrounds and with unique experiences.

But before you do that, here’s a quick exercise.

Make a list of the 10 people you spend the most time with these days.

Then write down :

  • The percentages of family / friends / work related colleagues / community connections in the group
  • The gender split among the group
  • The nationalities in the group?
  • Racial/ethnic variety in the group?
  • The religions represented
  • Where & when you meet each person

What does the demographic of your “frequently accessed community” look like?

When we have the same lived experiences as our mentors, advisors, staff and confidantes, we limit our exposure to new ideas and overlook opportunities to reach our goals. Tapping into diverse experiences can uncover a multitude of paths towards that same goal.

How you compose your personal advisory board can make all the difference.

2. Get curious with your prospects

While you are meeting with prospects and clients, pay attention to the amount of diversity in the environment. Make note of it.

“I notice you have young staff. How is that impacting the way you do business?”

“How are you handling the company’s remote working options?”

Strong consultants can integrate their expertise and solutions into these types of challenges.

3. Practice inclusive leadership with freelancers

Working with freelancers is an opportunity to build diversity within your business and strengthen inclusiveness.

Whether it be for ad-hoc tasks or regular assistance, we are ultimately making use of someone else’s expertise.

Thanks to marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork, we can source experts from all parts of the world.

In the long run, we find it helps to hire based on a talent perspective rather than from a transactional, time-saving task.

For any new project, we hired 2-3 freelancers to do different parts of the same task. We compare the quality of work and the time it takes to do it.

We also invite the freelancers to give feedback on how we can improve our task request – after all, they are the experts.

From this method, we have ongoing freelance relationships with talent in the US, Germany, Bulgaria, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan*

*Little did I know when I approached this person for admin assistance, she had an interest in Diversity & Inclusion. Our first project went well, and when I asked for her feedback, she shared that she built a program empowering 30,000 Pakistani girls. The success of the program led to her speaking at Ted Talks. Needless to say, we’ve “promoted” her!

4. Put your money where your mouth is

Strengthen and diversify your supplier networks. Earmark a percentage of your marketing, and freelance budgets to talented, diverse suppliers.

If your company wants to show its support to a social cause (Ukraine, BLM, disaster relief) with a monetary donation, announce your contribution AFTER the fact.

Mentioning your support for a D&I cause (with promised money) does not have the same impact as having done the work or made the donation.

5. Tap into inclusive communities

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far go together.
– African proverb

Business owners can spend a lot of time working alone. Too much time alone means we are missing out on ideas and opportunities that lie just outside our line of sight.

Having communities to touch base with has both physical and psychological benefits. The more diverse the community, the more inspiration we can gain for our business and ourselves.

Coaching communities like Consulting Success, provide regular doses of inclusive gatherings. The consultants come from various industries, live in different geographies, and share their unique perspectives with the group.

But we have one thing in common, the desire to run a strong business. So we all listen intently, connect with those who are inspiring us, and cheer each other on.

Which Acts Of Inclusion have you used, and which new ones will you try?


chandre torpet consultantChandre Torpet is a Clarity Coaching client and the Founder & CEO of Inclusive Matters, a firm that enables leadership teams to connect their Diversity & Inclusion ambitions to bottom-line results. 

 

 

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