The investment bank Godman Sachs recently announced their new diversity rule that states that they will no longer take companies public that do not have at least one Board member from an underrepresented group. Although this is a gesture in the right direction, it also amazes me that at that inflexion point where they were about to make a ‘bold’ decision, the decision itself can only be labelled as bold when you compare it to the past and not to what is needed for the present and future. Depending on the size of the Board, insisting on one individual is hardly going to make a meaningful dent in the actual diversity that is needed, of course noting their phased approached, according to news reports, which looks at least two female directors by 2021.
Outsourced morality
It is incumbent on each of us to constantly evaluate whether our moral compass is still pointing to our true north. We need to continually ask ourselves whether our actions are informed by our own beliefs that we carefully considered, before we concluded that they are fit to be used in our moral compass. How certain are we that we are not just believing what we are because those around us believe it? Or, that we are believing what we are because those who we have crowned with a halo believe it? Applying one’s own mind is paramount if we were to avoid the temptation of outsourcing our morality to others.