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When I tell a client I'm going to bring them a diverse slate, the reactions vary. Some are excited, some have little to say, and a few are politely skeptical. Once they meet the candidates, though, almost all of them come away impressed. We didn't lower the bar to get there. We just looked harder.
It's harder at the top
I won't pretend this is easy. Building a diverse slate for a leadership role is much harder than doing it for mid-level or entry-level positions. The pool is smaller, the best people are in demand, and the pipelines most organizations lean on don't reflect everyone who's out there.
If you go to the usual networks and the usual names, you'll get the usual slate. Getting something different means searching the whole market: across geographies, across industries, and into communities that searches often overlook. It takes more research and more time. It's worth it.
It also means going after people who aren't looking. Most of the candidates on my slates are passive. They're busy doing strong work and aren't thinking about leaving. If your search only reaches the people who raise their hands, you're probably missing your best candidate.
The spec doesn't move
This is the part I want to be clear about. A diverse slate does not mean a lower standard. Every candidate I present, however we found them, must meet or exceed the position specification. That applies equally to everyone on the slate, and it isn't up for negotiation.
Quotas and box-ticking have nothing to do with it. The goal is to find the best people available and make sure the search is broad enough that you see them all. The candidates I'm talking about are already performing at the level of the role. They aren't stretch hires waiting for someone to take a chance on them.
What changes for clients
Many of my clients never ask for a diverse slate. They come to us with a spec, a timeline, and a sense of the culture they want, and diversity may not come up at all.
When we present a slate that is both diverse and fully qualified, they're consistently pleased. Often, something also shifts in how they think about strong leadership. I'd argue that's the most valuable part of this work. It fills the role, and it changes the way a company thinks about talent.
The numbers
Across our firm, roughly half of our recent placements have been diverse candidates. In my own practice, over many years, the figure is about 70%. That didn't happen by luck. It comes from searching the full market, holding every candidate to the spec, and not cutting corners on sourcing. To me, it shows that a diverse slate and the best slate aren't competing ideas. Usually, they're the same slate.
The broader research points in the same direction. McKinsey has been studying diversity and company performance for close to a decade. In its 2020 report, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were about 25% more likely to outperform on profitability, and for ethnic diversity, the figure was 36%. By the 2023 report, the advantage had grown to around 39%, and companies that were strong on both gender and ethnic diversity did best of all.
Leadership teams don't become diverse by accident. They get there because someone made sure the pipeline had range before the first interview was booked. The slate is where that starts.
If you're hiring leaders
Whether you work with a search firm or hire in-house, a few things are worth insisting on. Ask for a diverse slate and treat it as a strategy rather than a gesture. Hold every candidate to the full spec. Look beyond the networks you already know.
Accept that a broader search takes a bit longer and keep track of who ends up on your slates and who you hire, so you can see whether anything is actually changing.
The talent is out there, across every background and community. The real question is whether your search is set up to find it. In my experience, when it is, the diverse slate is almost always the best slate.
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