Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/149047
HeRO year or two at best, so an organization's ability to capture, distribute, execute, and consistently innovate against that knowledge becomes a necessary organizational competency and differentiator if done really well. To be successful in that type of environment collaboration, change and learning agility, working in ambiguity, global acumen, ability to work on multifaceted and constantly changing teams, and a healthy belief that you are only as good as your last contribution are table stakes. Hopefully this sounds exciting, challenging, satisfying, and fun, because it is! How important is diversity in today's workplace? What is PwC's approach? Mark, when we talk about diversity at PwC, we're describing a wide range of differences and similarities. In its full breadth, diversity encompasses 24 dimensions—including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, generation, and physical ability. Some are visible, some are not. "Inclusion" leverages the power of our differences to achieve our goals. Diverse teams are innovative. Each member has a different background and point of view, so they bring a broad range of ideas to the table. When we value everyone's unique perspective, we see high performance and better results. If you couple this with what we have discussed up to this point, it becomes even more imperative to attract, retain, and develop diverse professionals to spur innovation, drive growth, and sustain competitive advantage in the marketplace. If we are not successful here, we won't be as an organization. Sheryl Sandberg was recently quoted saying "It turns out men still run the world, and I'm not so sure that's going so well." What is your view on that? (Sandberg is COO of Facebook and author of new hot seller "Lean In," released March 2013.) Sheryl has clearly encouraged women to "sit at the table," to seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. And we are working hard to create that environment and expected culture at our firm and where this occurs for all our diverse talent. I mentioned earlier a new model for leadership, and I think what Sheryl writes about is an important part of that story. Talent comes from all walks of life, backgrounds, and experiences, and organizations that learn how to leverage, integrate, and promote that talent in a consistent and inclusive fashion will outperform their competitors. The leaders of tomorrow need to embrace and understand how to lead in this changing dynamic and realize that the models of the past will not cultivate and sustain success today, and certainly not in the future. Finally, what skills will HR executives, talent managers, and recruiters need in the future to support a new contingent workforce? These dynamic forces present significant opportunities to continue to define and refine our impact and value to the organization. Linking our actions and outcomes to the strategy of the business and delivering against those agreed targets in new and innovative ways will continue to be keys to both organizational success and our own success as HR, talent, and recruiting managers and leaders. While there are some similarities in terms of key attributes and skills that are required to be successful, I believe these six are critical ingredients that I have observed from leaders I admire and respect and I think are becoming even more relevant with the changing workforce and models we've been discussing: (1) demonstrating genuine passion for and a deep belief that what you are doing is right; (2) an attitude and mindset of inclusion, collaboration, and persistence coupled with an openness and willingness to be influenced; (3) having fun at what you do and sharing that with others; (4) celebrating and giving credit to others for your success; (5) that the best can always get better; and (6) in everything you do and in every interaction you have, be present, gracious, humble, and compassionate. Mark Finn is the founder and CEO of TalentBox, a video-enabled digital interview platform that has operations in the United States and Australia. JULY/AUGUST 2013 | www.hrotoday.com [11]