This is a rant. Please ignore if you are not in a mood for somebody’s rant!
I strongly believe that talent is equally distributed across any segment that we can think of {men vs women, rich vs poor, straight vs gay, Asian vs European vs African, black vs brown vs white folks, early talent vs experienced talent, developed nation vs developing nation, students of Ivy League universities vs public universities, etc).
However, what differentiates the level of success in these segments is the distribution of opportunities. We have a tendency to provide opportunities to people like ourselves.
While this is understandable, it is important to change this attitude. As leaders, who have the ability to distribute opportunity to rise and shine, we need to be able to distribute the opportunity equally as well.
There are many reasons why this is important. However, in my belief, the most important reason is to create a sense of harmony and reduce unrest at every level (team, organisation, group, society, country, continent, race, etc).
We are living in times when the trust in leaders is at an all time low. There are enormous divides amongst people – socially, economically, politically and hierarchically. All of this, if left unaddressed, will lead to widespread civil unrest, which can be devastating for everyone involved.
So, as leaders, it is our responsibility to do what we can to divide opportunities amongst all sections equitably. I am not saying that we ignore any particular segment, just that the distribution of opportunity is equitable (not equal).
This requires us to use our own judgement to make these decisions and the only way we can make these decisions equitable is by keeping this top of mind.
