First-time chief diversity officers should seek clarity of purpose, anticipate major change, avoid thinking of themselves as a “messiah” and be prepared to be regarded as “the diversity expert.”
Those kernels of knowledge are contained in a new survey report on CDOs that seeks to provide practical advice for newcomers to the profession.
Khalilah Lawson — author of the report, released Tuesday and titled “The Critical First Year: What New Chief Diversity Officers Need to Succeed” — said it seeks to give newly appointed CDOs a realistic sense of what to expect based on the lived experience of other CDOs.
“So many of these positions are inaugural roles,” explained Lawson, senior associate at Witt/Kieffer, an executive search firm that finds talent for institutions of higher education, among other organizations.
“I was interested in getting a better understanding of what individuals thought the first year would feel like in the beginning, and then what it would realistically look like toward, say, the 366th day,” Lawson said in an interview with Diverse.
The report takes stock of how CDOs view their positions and the extent to which they believe they are supported by the administrations and institutions for which they work.
While the report maintains that CDOs are “well positioned to make an impact,” other elements of the report throw that assertion into question.
