The consequences of privilege

Over 30 years passed since Peggy McIntosh published her lists. However, the implications of privilege still do not enjoy the exposure and attention that they deserve. Moreover, the disadvantages that go along with not having certain privileges are still likely to be underestimated. Individuals who are born with less privilege experience these effects in all stages of life. A highly talented but underprivileged individual will have more trouble being seen, heard and valued by society. This starts at school, where certain privileges increase your chances of higher education and extrapolate on the labour market.

Examples of privilege are widespread and hard to pick. In the US, the average net worth of a white family is still over 10 times higher than the average net worth of a black family. The number of women in positions of power in public and private institutions is still lacking in many countries. During the Covid-pandemic In the UK, 15% of teachers from deprived schools reported that over a third of pupils would not have electronic access to school work compared to 2% at more affluent state schools. This last statistic does not include the UK’s private schools. It seems evident that privilege is a controversial topic for those who enjoy it. Western countries like to see themselves as level playing fields. However, the opposite seems to be true when accounting for the privilege. A fitting metaphor for being born with or without privilege is starting a football match with a 0-1 disadvantage. The results of this inequality are that people are calling for action and justice and that they are becoming louder in doing so.

The myth of meritocracy

The debate on privilege and equality is not an easy pill to swallow for a lot of people. Especially those that never thought about their privilege and have been very successful according to societal standards are often triggered by the narrative surrounding privilege. These people find themselves in positions of power and believe that they deserved to be there because of their talent and hard work. They attribute patterns of inequality to the mechanics of the meritocracy, which they think rewards those who work hard and are willing to go the extra mile. This storyline gives rise to the notion that the people who are at the top layers of organizations are the most competent, most ambitious and have worked the hardest to get there. In most Western countries, this group was long synonymous with white males.

This assumption is proven false now research is exposing the effects on unconscious privilege in modern societies. The concept of meritocracy is a myth. Those in positions of power are not always the best according to objective standards, they are extremely likely to possess a high degree of personal privileges. Their success can partly be attributed to factors such as their place of birth and their upbringing. It goes without saying that skills, ambition, talent and perseverance are all essential ingredients for success and this article does not argue that privileged persons lack these qualities. However, an underprivileged person with the same qualities is a lot less likely to attain similar levels of success compared to a similar person born with a lot of privilege. The widespread inequality of opportunity in Western societies proves the falsehood of the notion of meritocracy and is a powerful argument for those demanding equality.

The seven key privileges

Journalist and anthropologist Joris Luyendijk analyzed the system of privilege in The Netherlands. He concluded on seven key privileges that give an individual a large advantage in life, namely: being white, being male, being heterosexual, having highly-educated parents, being highly-educated yourself, speaking with a standardized dialect and being secular to a degree where religion does not play a large role in your life. Luyendijk asserts that a mere 3% of all Dutch people have all seven privileges. However, this statistic increased astronomically when zooming into layers of power in politics and the economy. This group of people is very homogenous in the sense that the majority of people have all seven privileges. According to Luyendijk, it takes the average person 2 years of hard work and perseverance in order to level the disadvantage associated with missing one of the seven key privileges. It follows that an individual that ticks two of the seven boxes is 10 years behind a similar person that ticks all seven.

‘It’s always those white men’

A fitting universal example of two of the key privileges is found in a July 2021 statement by gender studies professor Rosemare Buikema: ‘’We have a white male prime minister and a white male public health minister. In hindsight, experts agree that they together made a colossal error in opening up too quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, there is nobody who says ‘It’s always those white men’.’’ The takeaway here is that the mistakes made by these two white men does not reflect on white men in general. They do not experience sexism, racism or any other form of negative backlash for lacking certain privileges. However, if both officials had been women, twitter would have been full of statements such as: ‘’Women can’t lead in times of crisis. They simply can’t handle the responsibility.’’ I would like to add here that the word ‘women’ would have probably been replaced by less flattering phrasing.

Stereotypical preferences

Around the globe, born privilege and unconscious bias are in the way of much-needed diversity. A study by Miller et al. (2014) analyzed the objective and subjective reality surrounding both phenomena on a global scale. This study showcased the severity of the problem. The most striking example concerns the Netherlands. Dutch people are generally convinced that their country is among the best when it comes to gender equality. In reality, the Dutch ranked among the highest out of a pool of 65(!) states in implicit and explicit preferences for male leadership in positions of power. The research conducted by Direction among 13.000 Dutch managers confirms that these conclusions still hold for 2021.  This bias towards male leadership is one of the key reasons why women experience difficulty reaching positions at the top of organizations. The Netherlands counts four times as many male scientists compared to women scientists and only one in six top executives of the largest 5.000 companies is a woman. Similar statistics are available for nearly all Western countries.

Research indicates that individuals born with privilege are likely to have an unconscious bias towards persons without these privileges. In the UK, people with a migration background have great trouble finding employment that matches their level of skill. A third of ‘highly skilled’ migrants living in the UK are working in ‘unskilled’ jobs such as supermarket staff or as cleaners. Often heard explanations by privileged non-migrants revolve around work ethic, ambition cultural barriers. The former two are proven false by statistics. Migrant men are more likely to be employed compared to UK-born men (84% vs 79% in 2019) and unemployed migrant men are less likely to claim unemployment benefits compared to their UK-born counterparts (17% vs 29% in 2019). Maybe these ‘cultural barriers’ do not revolve around the willingness to work hard, but in fact, constitute systems of privilege and unconscious bias towards underprivileged groups.

An abundance of talent

People are inclined to assess their societies as more egalitarian than is objectively the case. Data on diversity and gender indicates that this divergence and its repercussions are likely to grow in severity, especially in the long run. In most Western nations, women are currently more likely to complete higher education. Also, migrant populations are growing along with their level of education. As the talent pool that feeds societies is changing, they ought to adopt in order to reap its full benefits. Less-privileged individuals will grow in numbers and so will the talents they have to offer. Yet, their potential is not valued as such.

Quality above all else

Ensuring a more levelled playing field for all individuals may feel like an injustice to some as it will come at the expense of those highly privileged. This is especially true if people are not aware of their own privilege and believe that they deserve their current position because of their own qualities and hard work. Highly privileged individuals are fearful of rapid downward mobility of themselves and especially of their children. Defence mechanisms are triggered resulting in passionate arguments about meritocracy, hard work and if you are lucky, a reference to ‘the American dream. It is exactly this argument –people should be treated in accordance with their personal qualities­­­– that underlines the urgency of the issue at hand. If people are truly selected based on quality, we have to work to reduce the role privilege plays in our societies and allow diversity to manifest in our companies and governments.

Inclusion for now and for later

We live in a time of complex, urgent and global issues. Daily headlines revolve around climate change, the energy transition, the decay of democracies and institutional racism. In order to meet these challenges, time and creativity are essential. Research indicates that teams with high levels of diversity are exceptionally well-equipped for such tasks as they offer a range of perspectives. Leaders that ensure enough seats at the table for more diversity are the leaders of the future. They invite a range of talents, give those talents enough space, are able to listen and are able to connect. These leaders do not defend their position of power, but take action to move forward. If they were lucky and have a lot of individual privileges, they apply these privileges to help those less-privileged. Leaders who apply this notion in their personal lives become role models for their children. Their children are taught not to defend, but to move forward and help others do so as well. Research shows that this behaviour of helping others results in strong gains in personal status for those lending a helping hand*. This is the type of leader that advances organizations and societies. Therefore, the enormous differences in privilege that currently exist can also be interpreted as a chance for those in leadership positions to make a meaningful difference. This comes down to the opportunity to apply one’s privilege in order to benefit future generations and the common good. A modern-day version of noblesse oblige.

A classroom example

GOOD LEADERSHIP IS ESSENTIAL

I explained how HPO Center started working with this model every day since 2008. The simple model is very rich and indicates what you should do and, just as interesting, what you should not. If it is not in the model, it has proven not to contribute significantly to an organisation’s result. Based on the HPO model, we examined organisations on their request. Together with their teams, we determined how they could perform better by a slightly different focus and adjusted actions.

Over time, we learned to use the HPO model more skilfully. We discovered patterns of inadequate interventions and time and again, we concluded how crucial good leadership is for an organisation. When more and more organisations started working agile and switched to self-management or self-organisation, the HPO Center continuously stressed the importance of good leadership because it proved that organisations perform better. No matter what the title is, be it leader, manager, coach, or agile team coach.

Some management and leadership tasks need to be well organised and performed to optimise collaboration and performance. The HPO model screams leadership. Listed under Quality of Leadership, twelve characteristics of the total 35 characteristics are included in the model. The other four factors also contain several characteristics that the leader must initiate. Overall, the success of 23 of the 35 characteristics is primarily determined by the manager or leader. In our opinion, good teams with bad leaders do not exist, just as bad teams with good leaders don’t exist. Good leaders make or break a team and the success of an organisation. As a result, the HPO Center’s statement is: without good leadership, no good result.

HPO MODEL AND DIVERSITY

Leaders largely determine the success of teams. They have two important assignments as a leader. One of the assignments is to provide clarity and allow speed to a team. This is where the leader  uses his or her power to make decisions, bring focus and create clarity so that people can do their work in an attuned, good and fast manner. A capable leader ensures rapid decision-making in which all alternatives are expertly considered. Diversity in teams can improve decision-making. Research has often pointed out that diversity in a team can lead to a better strategy, more creativity, and faster innovation. A diverse team appears to be better at weighing up the possible alternatives when making a decision. In a more homogeneous team, people come to a decision faster without looking at all the alternatives. As a result, you miss opportunities.

HPO MODEL AND LEADERSHIP: CAN YOU DO IT?

The other side of leadership is the inclusive part of it. This part of leadership involves paying attention to individual employees by helping, coaching, inspiring, and guiding them. These tasks are often less visible but of great importance for good performance. Of the 24 focus areas of leaders in HPO organisations, 9 are about using your power as a leader. No fewer than 16 are mainly about inclusive leadership: making everyone in a team feel at home.

ADJUSTING TO THE AVERAGE?

More than half of your leadership tasks help create an inclusive environment for all employees. This means an environment in which they feel free and open to express their ideas without feeling embarrassed or insecure. Creating this safety for all employees is a challenge, especially since all employees are different. Every individual requires a personal approach. This does not only concern visible diversity (e.g. gender, age, skin color) but also invisible diversity (e.g. social class, education, experience, attitude to life, preferred style). Tailoring to your team member’s individual needs takes time and attention, but it will certainly payback. Are you unable to make time to do these tasks properly? The consequence is, perhaps unconsciously, that you ask your employees to adapt to some sort of average. Everyone gives up a little bit of themselves to make it easier for the leader to manage. That seems like a good idea, but it seriously impairs performance. Those teams often cannot perform to the max. Tensions are not pronounced, dialogues are avoided, team members who are ‘good’ together form subgroups. Without good leadership in teams, prejudices often play a role. People act on their unconscious prejudices and therefore do not make the best use of each other’s talents. Taking advantage of diversity in teams requires the inclusion of all team members. Ensuring that team members do not have to adjust too much to an average gives a team a boost. And it is the leader who must make this possible.

COMMITMENT AND APPRECIATION 

Social psychologist, university professor at Utrecht University, Noami Ellemers, whose research I always follow, comes with several striking examples. “We looked at the functioning of cultural minorities in the workplace, for example among Muslim women. If encouraged to adapt to the majority, these women felt less engaged in the work and had less ambition to perform well or progress to a higher position. Only when they felt that their cultural identity was valued and they were allowed to be themselves did their work motivation increase. Paradoxically, once valued, they turned out to be more willing to meet the wishes of the organisation. We saw a similar pattern among gay employees. Those who did their best to fit in by hiding their sexual preferences and behaving like others performed worst. In general, we see that attempts to hide a stigma make people feel less satisfied and engaged at work. They experience shame and guilt about what they are trying to keep hidden, and therefore function less well among their colleagues. Those who ‘come out’ eventually feel more accepted and involved and collaborate better – because they no longer have to hide anything.”

IT DOESN’T ALWAYS WORK 

An HPO manager ensures inclusion works and keeps learning, every day. Every time a team changes composition, a new search begins to get to know each other, to provide the new team member with a safe environment, and to adjust the team’s ways to give the other person space. Just as sports coaches do with a new player in a team, so do HPO leaders in their teams. You can imagine that an active leadership task is much more extensive than that of a leader who has only led homogeneous groups of  people. A meta-survey in the US showed that in organisations where white men traditionally dominated, more diversity often did not lead to better results. Benefiting from diversity requires a lot of attention from the leader, especially if this leader has little experience with inclusion and diversity.

INCLUSION INSTEAD OF QUOTAS

A lot of attention for inclusive leadership is needed to hire the best talent (however diverse) and to build an HPO with these people. Building High Performance Organisations is strongly linked to creating inclusion and inviting diversity to really participate. In building a strong organisation, the focus should not be on the degree of diversity, as quotas do. The emphasis should then be on the way in which managers deal with differences between employees in teams. In an inclusive climate, they communicate to employees that differences are necessary and useful. They do not expect everyone to behave exactly the same, and as a result, all employees will feel part of it, and they will combine their contributions to improve collaboration and performance.

“First, we will have to do it ourselves!”

The workshop took place one week after my conversation with the board member. As always before a training session, I arrived with a curious attitude and some light ‘pre-game’ tension. Would the members of the board recognise the link between success as HPO and diversity and inclusion?

We managed to start the dialogue and just before two hours had passed one of the members of the board said: “We have serious work to do. We are those leaders who have far too little experience with diversity and inclusion. With our leadership style, we are very good at wasting diverse talent. It is not the diversity manager who has work to do, we have. It has to start with us.” On the face of the board member that I had spoken to one week before, a cautious smile emerged. “Let’s start with a training inclusive leadership for ourselves,” he said. “It will start with us.”

The first step was taken and proved to be a success. Their journey kicked off with focussing half a day on the unconscious bias with revealing test results. And all board members started working with the results of our feedforward analysis™ which gives insight into their individual qualities to achieve inclusion. These leaders gain new insights via this 360-degree tool based on HPO. Exciting and fun. I’ll speak to the team again next week.