Infectious Enthusiasm and Diversity in the Boardroom

Still working the magic at 70

My Dad has a marvellous ability to make people feel good about themselves. He's not a great listener - not surprising because pride prevents him putting his hearing aid in, never mind turning it on. But he's a fantastic asker of questions. He can also deliver a very good punch line and has an infectious enthusiasm that is, well it's infectious.

To the uninformed he's just a confident, charming and slightly flirtatious older gentleman. He claims that it's a defence mechanism. He's shy. Asking questions is the best form of defence. Everyone has something to give or a secret to share. Get them to share it and life is a lot more fun all round. I think it's a load of baloney. I don't think he's been shy for about 40 years.

We recently had a family history written. There was a book launch/family gathering event with a hugely diverse mix of ages, nationalities, income streams, ethnic backgrounds and sexual preferences on display. It was a great do. The common thread was the newly scripted history and one of the magic ingredients was my dad running around doing his thing.

The city crowd

I came straight back and ended up at one of these City leadership do's for talented women. It got me thinking about diversity. The City crowd was very gender diverse - about 50:50 by my count. But nearly everyone there was successful, opinionated and middle class. Close your eyes and ignore the pitch of the voice and it would be very difficult to tell the difference between the men and women present.

Gender diversity might be the biggest and easiest diversity banner to wave. I'm just not sure it's the best. If you really think diversity is worth striving for then don't worry about the number of women on FTSE boards. Have a look at the tiny number of ethnic minorities represented and get noisy about that. Meanwhile time to turn that hearing aid on.

Ben Black