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Cracking the Code That Stalls People of Color
By Sylvia Ann Hewlett
It’s a topic that corporations once routinely ignored, then dismissed, and are only now beginning to discuss: the dearth of professionals of color in senior positions. Professionals of color hold only 11% of executive posts in corporate America.1 Among Fortune 500 CEOs, only six are black, eight are Asian, and eight are Hispanic.2
Performance and hard work, along with sponsors, get top talent recognized and promoted, but leadership potential isn’t enough to lever men and women into the executive suite. Top jobs are given to those who also look and act the part, who manifest “executive presence” (EP). According to research by the Center for Talent Innovation (CTI), EP constitutes 26% of what senior leaders say it takes to get the next promotion.3 Yet because senior leaders are overwhelmingly Caucasian, professionals of color (African American, Asian, and Hispanic individuals) find themselves at an immediate disadvantage in trying to look, sound, and act like a leader. And the feedback that might help them do so is markedly absent at all levels of management.
Executive presence rests on three pillars: gravitas (the core characteristic, according to 67% of the 268 senior executives surveyed), an amalgam of behaviors that convey confidence, inspire trust, and bolster credibility; communication skills (according to 28%); and appearance, the filter through which communication skills and gravitas become more apparent. While they are aware of the importance of EP, men and women of color are nonetheless hard-pressed to interpret and embody aspects of a code written by and for white men.
Research from CTI finds that professionals of color, like their Caucasian counterparts, prioritize gravitas over communication and communication over appearance. Yet, “cracking the code” of executive presence presents unique challenges for professionals of color because standards of appropriate behavior, speech, and attire demand they suppress or sacrifice aspects of their cultural identity in order to conform. They overwhelmingly feel that EP at their firm is based on white male standards—African Americans, especially, were 97% more likely than their Caucasian counterparts to agree with this assessment—and that conforming to these standards requires altering their authenticity, a new version of “bleached-out professionalism” that contributes to feelings of resentment and disengagement. (See figures 2 and 3.) People of color already feel they have to work harder than their Caucasian counterparts just to be perceived as being on a par with them; more than half (56%) of minority professionals also feel they are held to a stricter code of EP standards.
Executive presence at my company is defined as conforming to traditionally white male standards
Source: Center for Talent Innovation
I feel the need to compromise my authenticity to conform to executive presence standards at my company
Source: Center for Talent Innovation
Executive presence further eludes professionals of color because they’re not likely to get feedback on their “presentation of self.” Qualitative findings affirm that their superiors, most of whom are white, hesitate to call attention to gravitas shortfalls or communication blunders for fear of coming across as racially insensitive or discriminatory. While sponsors might close this gap by specifically addressing EP issues with their high potentials, CTI’s 2012 research shows that professionals of color are much less likely to have a sponsor than Caucasians (8% versus 13%).4 When they do get feedback, they’re unclear about how to act on it, particularly if they were born outside the United States. (See figure 4.) This is a serious problem for corporations that need local expertise to expand their influence in global markets.
In short, because feedback is either absent, overly vague, or contradictory, executive presence remains an inscrutable set of rules for professionals of color—rules they’re judged by but cannot interpret and embody except at considerable cost to their authenticity. Consequently, in a workplace where unconscious bias continues to permeate the corridors of power and leadership is mostly white and male, professionals of color are measurably disadvantaged in their efforts to be perceived as leaders.
As America becomes more diverse at home and its companies are increasingly engaged in the global marketplace, winning in today’s fiercely competitive economy requires a diverse workforce that “matches the market.” Such individuals are better attuned to the unmet needs of consumers or clients like themselves. Research from CTI shows, however, that their insights need a key ingredient to reach full-scale implementation: a cadre of equally diverse leaders.5 Yet the power of difference is missing at the top, just when it matters most.
SYLVIA ANN HEWLETT is the founder and CEO of the Center for Talent Innovation and the founder of Hewlett Consulting Partners LLC.
Notes
1.U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Job Patterns For Minorities And Women In Private Industry (2009 EEO-1 National Aggregate Report), 2009.
2.DiversityInc. staff, “Where’s the Diversity in Fortune 500 CEOs?” October 8, 2012, https://www.diversityinc.com/diversity-facts/wheres-the-diversity-in-fortune-500-ceos/.
3.S. Hewlett et al., “Cracking the Code: Executive Presence and Multicultural Professionals,” Center for Talent Innovation, 2013.
4.S. Hewlett et al., “Vaulting the Color Bar: How Sponsorship Levers Multicultural Professionals into Leadership,” Center for Talent Innovation, 2012.
5.S. Hewlett et al., “Innovation, Diversity, and Market Growth,” Center for Talent Innovation, 2013.
Adapted from content posted on hbr.org,
January 22, 2014 (product #H00MV0).