Diversity Is Strength

From 1804 to 1806, Army officers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led an amazing team known as the "Corps of Discovery" on an 8000-mile journey over 863 days into the unknown reaches of the western United States and safely home again. They were commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to find an all-water thoroughfare- the fabled "Northwest Passage"- to the Pacific Ocean. Though they failed in that mission (no such waterway existed), they succeeded in exploring and documenting virtually everything they saw along the way, establishing the boundaries of the young nation, and opening the great American West to future expansion.

What is perhaps most remarkable about Lewis and Clark and their incredible journey of discovery is that they achieved this feat- in a day and age when people gave no thought to the importance of celebrating and incorporating differences- with a team of talented individuals who were truly diverse in the broadest sense of the term. Lewis and Clark dramatically demonstrated a fundamental principle that all modern-day business leaders should know and understand: diversity is strength.

We all remember the story from our school days of Sacagawea, the sixteen-year-old Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied the expedition. She was the wife of Toussaint Charbonneau, who had been added to the team en route as an interpreter. Sacagawea was a nursing mother who traversed 5000 miles with her infant son Jean Baptiste (known as "Pomp") on her back. There is a common misconception that she guided the expedition throughout the journey, which she did not, but her value to the Corps of Discovery was nevertheless profound. She was skilled and knowledgeable in field craft: building shelters, making and repairing clothing, and finding food. Through her quick thinking, she once saved valuable equipment and supplies when a canoe nearly capsized.

Most important, Sacagawea served as the physical embodiment of the Corps of Discovery's peaceful intentions. She was instrumental in securing necessary cooperation from Native American tribes along the way. Meriwether Lewis described Sacagawea as "our only dependence for a friendly negotiation with the Snake [Shoshone] Indians on whom we depend for horses to assist us in our portage from the Missouri to the Columbia River."

Another important member of the team was York, who was William Clark's black slave. In a time when it was a criminal offense for a slave to be taught how to operate a gun, York carried a musket throughout the expedition and used it with great skill to hunt. York was valuable during the many months spent rafting on a river because, unlike other members of the expedition, he could swim. York physically accompanied Clark on all of the most dangerous phases of the mission, suggesting that Clark fully trusted York's ability to handle any perilous situation. Finally, by virtue of his skin color, York fascinated the Indian tribes encountered on the journey. They referred to him as "Big Medicine." He was perceived as having greater value because of his uniqueness, and made negotiations with the Indians easier than they would otherwise have been. In the end, because of the special gifts they each brought, Sacagawea and York became regarded, in effect, as fully equal members of the team.

The Corps of Discovery was also diverse in less obvious ways. In an era when social status mattered a great deal, Lewis and Clark did not select a single member of the expedition based on any criteria other than merit. They cast their net far and wide in search of people who were not just physically strong, but who also possessed intelligence, discipline, and distinctive skills. One of the men they hired was a master carpenter; another was a veteran blacksmith. They recruited a tailor, a fisherman, a boatman, and several excellent hunters. They hired interpreters who would help them in their discussions with Native American tribes. The team members came from a variety of cultures: Irish, German, French and English. There were several men who were mixed-race, half-white and half-Native American.

In his wonderful book, Into the Unknown: Leadership Lessons From Lewis and Clark's Daring Westward Expedition, author Jack Uldrich says, "It would be unrealistic to say that Lewis and Clark started their selection process with diversity as an end goal or even a deciding factor. As products of the late-eighteenth century, this was not how they thought. The lesson, however, is that by focusing on their end goal- reaching the Pacific- they were led, by necessity, to assemble a diverse team. As the famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said, 'Form follows function.' And to conquer the unknown, that 'form' manifested itself as a diverse team."

Even Lewis and Clark themselves possessed complementary skills as co-commanders of the expedition. They were both seasoned soldiers, strong, and experienced in the ways of the wilderness. They were also both curious, ambitious, and excellent leaders. But Lewis was better educated, and a superb hunter and botanist. Clark was a talented boatman and cartographer. Lewis tended to be reserved, humorless, and even prone to bouts of depression, while Clark was warm and engaging, with an easy manner that made him popular with the men. Together they formed a formidable duo, arguably the most successful leadership team in American history.

Do you belong to a diverse business team? A team that is diverse not just in the obvious, visible sense, but that possesses diversity of skills, backgrounds, and experiences? Or does everyone on your team more or less think and act alike? With the increasing complexity of business missions in today's global economy, leaders who ignore the imperative to seek diversity in their approach will lose. As Lewis and Clark taught us so ably more than 200 years ago, diversity is an absolute necessity, because diversity is strength.

Lead Courageously in a Challenging New World

There are some positive indicators that we are currently rebounding from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The stock market is thriving. Manufacturing activity is increasing. Retail sales are up. With that said, unemployment now exceeds ten percent. Many experts predict the recovery will be slow and arduous at best. We all hope for a better future. But I think we also know- regardless of how the future takes shape- things will never be the same again. To quote the great philosopher Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, "We are not in Kansas anymore." For business leaders, the critical new skill set will be the ability to lead courageously in a challenging new world.

Survival in a deeply recessionary economy and building for a healthy future requires leaders to take on two important tasks. The first involves stabilizing the current situation. The second involves adapting to a new and uncertain future and seizing opportunity wherever it presents itself.

The old adage "when you are up to your [posterior] in alligators, it's difficult to remember the original objective was to drain the pond," has come to my mind often during these trying times. The down economy has very understandably caused businesses to focus attention on the immediate task of survival. Research shows that both people and organizations are far more highly motivated to take action by the possibility of loss than by the prospect of gain.

Indeed, it makes sense during tough times to take every reasonable step to protect the existing business. Is your financial house in order? Are there opportunities to trim costs or otherwise gain efficiencies? Are you staffed and organized correctly? Does your product mix make sense? Is your product or service priced right? Are there opportunities to divest? These are all important questions that should already have been part of a rigorous review of your current business model.

The risk in undergoing this kind of crisis-mode analysis involves the inclination to hunker down and wait out the storm once near-term steps are in place. All of us as leaders have a tendency to rely on skills and abilities that have worked for us in the past. We look for recognizable patterns so we can respond to them just as we have successfully done before. We want to be able to reassure our teams that things will return to normal soon. But there is great danger in this mindset because the future that we face will be unlike anything any of us have ever previously experienced.

The businesses that will go beyond mere survival and thrive into the future are those that aggressively seize opportunity. They see lean times not as a disaster to endure, but as a challenge to overcome. During the last recession, approximately one in three industry leaders lost their perch at the top of their fields as savvy competitors maneuvered skillfully during the downturn. Those who follow bicycle racing know that in an event such as the Tour de France, the ultimate winner frequently overtakes the leaders during the mountain phase- the toughest part of the contest.

Do you have an opportunity to rethink your business model? In the recession of the early 1990's, IBM experienced its first revenue decline in over fifty years. Losses mounted year over year. CEO Louis Gerstner took time during the downturn to seriously reconsider a business model based on sales of mainframe computers. IBM shifted its focus from hardware into computer services and solutions, and it flourished.

Are you continuing to think about the future by investing in research and development? In 2001, the beginning of a two-year recessionary period, Apple Computer experienced a revenue decline of 33 percent. Yet Apple bravely chose to increase R&D expenditures by 13 percent, and continued to maintain that level of investment throughout the downward cycle. Such innovative technologies as the iTunes music store and software, the iPod Mini, and the iPod Photo were developed during this period. Rapid and healthy growth resulted for Apple.

Are you continuing to invest in your people? Remember, even during bad times, your top performers have other options. Do you have the right players in place? Are you encouraging them in their development? Do they see a future with your organization? I believe that one of the most short-sighted moves that many companies make when the going gets tough is to immediately cut training and development dollars.

Finally, these pragmatic steps of rethinking your business model, investing in R&D, and taking care of your people should not just be one-time responses to a crisis, but rather an ongoing part of how you do business. In a Harvard Business Review article from 2003, business authors Gary Hamel and Liisa Valikangas state that the strongest businesses are those that continuously "reinvent business models and strategies as circumstances change," rather than just making singular adjustments in reaction to an emergency. The authors argue that those companies that work incrementally to try numerous different ideas on a micro scale- while involving many people in the discovery process- succeed over time. Businesses "should steer clear of grand, imperial strategies and devote themselves instead to launching a swarm of low-risk experiments."

No matter how we cut it, the future is daunting and unknowable. But it is also richly abundant with opportunity. Those leaders who work hard to strengthen their organizations in the short run and then courageously look to the future will end up on top of the mountain when the economy improves. A continuous cycle of scrutinizing the business model, investing in lots of new ideas, and developing people will bring success in a challenging new world.