Leading Across New Borders: How to Succeed as the Center Shifts

Chapter 5Global Inclusion: Beyond Race and GenderInclusive Leadership for Competitive Advantage

Taking a Broader Approach

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives are taking on different forms and must constantly renew their relevance as the world's economic center shifts. With the center of economic gravity moving east and south, the most visible manifestations of diversity—race and gender balance, for instance—are changing. In addition, companies are increasingly finding value in taking broader approaches to inclusiveness that embrace perspectives from different generations, functions, and thinking styles.

Diversity in Asia-Pacific

Alvin Wong is an R&D team leader based in his company's regional headquarters in Singapore. He is originally a Hong Kong Chinese—when he was 12 years old his family immigrated to the United Kingdom, and he later went to graduate school in the United States. The mid-sized multinational that he works for assigned his team the task of designing a localized version of the company's best-selling product, a modular solar panel array for homes and apartment buildings.

Alvin speaks quickly and with a wry smile: “I assumed that our main challenges would be technical, but we keep running into roadblocks, and some of them seem to be more personal than technical. This gives me a big headache. Two of our team members from mainland China don't seem to get along well with the Singaporeans on the team or even with each other. After a dinner and a few drinks ...