Not Another Straight, Western, White Male CEO

Perry Maddox shares his journey as a white male CEO and explores how leaders can leverage their roles to drive diversity, equity & inclusion.

---

One sentence changed everything.

Several years ago, we asked our people what they wanted in our next CEO, soon to be recruited.

Or so they tell me, because I wasn’t involved. It would have given me an unfair advantage as a candidate.

When I got the job, I asked permission to read the anonymized summary of what they shared. Talk about a treasure trove – global insight on what everyone wanted from me. It massively shaped my approach as a first-time CEO.

Happily, I read through hundreds of perspectives until one stopped me:

“Not another straight, western, white male CEO.“

A Very, Very Big Problem.

The sentence hit like a sledgehammer.

As it should. Our field must own up to an unjust reality:

• 6% of UK charity CEOs were people of color in ACEVO’s latest.
• Women make up 30-35% of INGO CEOs despite being 70% of staff.
• 25-30% of CEOs of large UK-based charities attended Oxford or Cambridge. Only 18% of FTSE 100 CEOs and 1% of the UK population did the same.

That’s a whole lot of elite, white male CEOs. It’s never good to lag behind big business, especially when we exist to serve diverse people and communities. I asked myself if I should resign.

Instead, I concluded that with others, we would help to change the picture.

You Haven’t Screwed it Up, Yet.

“You’re lucky as Restless,” an expert in diversity, equity and inclusion told me.

“You’ve got the foundations – the values, culture, transparency and trust – to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in a real way. Plus, you haven’t screwed it up yet.”

A low bar, but she was right about our foundations. Later that year we created a global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy that since generated 94-97% satisfaction rates from global staff over several years.

This is no self-praise post. I got plenty wrong.

Our success belongs to a global team hungry to lead challenging discussions, learn with humility, think critically and act boldly.

As George Floyd’s murder forced us to do. We focussed more and more on power, systemic racism and racial injustice. Harder, overdue discussions about unjust realities that demand discomfort, no matter the satisfaction scores.

Finding my Lane as a White Male CEO.

Keen not to crowd the diverse leaders driving this work, I aimed to leverage my unique role in the unique way it allowed me to contribute, learning to:

• Lead with Language. “I’m the third consecutive straight, western white, male CEO, and that’s not ok,” began my first talk with staff as CEO, repeated in videos, in person and online. It wasn’t revolutionary, but by speaking up as a leader, I called out myself and our organization. Leaders lead with language, using our platform to speak uncomfortable truths and to signal change.
• Put Money where Your Mouth Is. During a listening exercise, a staff member challenged our global salary scales. They observed that a dual salary system – global roles were paid more than national roles due to a larger remit – was structurally racist. After all, global roles were disproportionately staffed by white westerners. Sector colleagues claim there are no quick fixes. Don’t buy that. Within weeks, we committed to levelling the scales.
• Rebuild Leadership Teams. Three years ago I was part of an all-white, 90% UK-citizen leadership team based in London. We since rebuilt our global leadership team to become majority People of Color, majority women, and based across 5 continents. It wasn’t easy, but through 1) restructuring staff structures and leadership talent pipelines, 2) spreading many role locations globally, and 3) investing into leadership talent development, we built our most representative leadership team yet.
• Take the Risk. I’ll never forget saying to our People Director, “I’m willing to bet my career on this one,” regarding an extremely sensitive personnel situation involving diversity. It wasn’t clear on paper, and 5 lawyers gave us 5 different opinions. We knew what our values called us do, but it remained a high-risk judgement call. My voice shook when I spoke those words. But if a CEO won’t take that risk, what use are we?

Don’t be Another White Male CEO.

Hundreds of people powered this journey. We don’t do it alone, but leaders do have an important role to play.

Use your platform to drive change in the way that only you can.

Look, we’re still getting started. I have plenty of mistakes and learning to come. We have to own it all, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to know it all.

That’s why I want to thank: Antoinette Boateng for teaching me to lead from the front and to demand data-backed results; Christina Blacken for her inspiring work on narrative intelligence for an inclusive status quo; Ambar Januel for her guidance on leading for social justice; and, Edleen John for her deep wisdom and expert judgement.

Above all, I want to thank that anonymous staff member. You changed my life.

Now that’s real leadership.