Diversity of Thought Is Essential for the Channel's Future

Janet Schijns

“We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges.” — Tim Berners Lee

I first became aware that diversity was an issue in the channel early on in my channel career.  Khali Henderson had hired me as a keynote speaker at an event held in New Jersey. At the time, I had not done much work in the telco channel.

When I arrived at the conference, I scanned the name badges on the table and found mine. I noticed that not only was I the only female speaker, I was also one of very few women at the event. Since I had arrived late, I initially thought that perhaps the other women had already picked up their badges. Nope — there really were that few women in the industry.  Walking around the event I also noticed there was extraordinarily little diversity of any kind.

Now remember, at this point in my career I knew there was an issue with women in technology overall. You only had to look around to see it and feel it. But the complete lack of any diversity really struck me that day. The bottom line was everyone looked and, frankly, thought the same. I stood out in the industry and as a speaker because … well, I was different — and it showed.

Not Enough Progress

Fast forward quite a few years to the channel today. While we have made progress it’s not substantial enough to turn the corner to full diversity. By the way, this isn’t just our channel and our industry. Consider the facts: According to a study by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company, by the time women reach the senior vice president level, they hold just 20% of the line roles that are the most likely to lead to the C-suite. Ethnic and racial minorities also are underrepresented at all levels of leadership. Research has found that of executives one to three levels below the CEO, only 8% were Asian males; Black and Hispanic leaders of both genders combined constituted less than 7%.

It appears the channel is not alone in this problem.  And it is a problem make no mistake about it.

Doesn’t it seem dangerous to our future when you take a step back and think about it – everyone being the “same”?  Doesn’t it create a hostile and unwelcoming environment for diverse members of our community?  Don’t we deserve better than this in the channel?  Don’t we need the diversity of thought? Action? Community?

We need to have these discussions and ask ourselves the hard questions now. Let’s use the Allies of the Channel Council (ACC) and our DE&I community to have that discussion and make the channel a safe place for everyone.

Janet Schijns is founder and CEO of JS Group, which specializes in creating impactful indirect go-to-market strategies for technology firms.