Welcome to the eighteenth issue of CEE News!

One of the most common topics on our clients’ minds these days is diversity.  A record number of organizations are reviving and rebuilding their diversity programs. The subject is no longer consigned to a small print paragraph on corporate websites.  Instead, more CEOs are making diversity a key part of their platforms.  Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson credited diversity as a key engine in completing needed work in the energy space. Genentech recently posted an advertisement for a Senior Director of Innovation, Diversity & Inclusion

The business case for diversity has never been more front and center in the headlines.  Why?  Today’s employees and consumers will correct for a company’s lack of diversity by choosing not to work for or buy from that company — making slow-to-change organizations extinct.

At Center for Executive Excellence, we have developed a unique, 4-quadrant framework that embraces diversity and drives inclusion.  We call this framework the Transformative Leadership Engagement Model^©. Diversity without inclusion leads to employees who get used to being overlooked and stop sharing ideas and insights. But diversity with inclusion provides a potent mix of engagement and retention.

We’ll be sharing the Transformative Leadership Engagement Model^© at several venues this year, including the American Public Transit Authority CEOs Seminar in February, the Credit Union Executives Summit in March and our own Re:Imagine Leadership Summit in April.  If you can join us for one of these, check out our new Five Generations. Side by Side program that we can bring to you online or on sight.

Meanwhile, check out our story about Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap in the Business in Focus section, and get some advice about how to take the sting out of negative 360 feedback in our Sticky Solutions series.  Meet the latest member to join our panel at the Re:Imagine Leadership Summit.

Happy reading!