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Fostering Culturally Diverse Leadership in Organisations: Lessons from Those Who Smashed the Bamboo Ceiling

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Leveraging academic research and case studies, knowledge as a business leader and diversity practitioner, and personal experience, Karen Loon examines how successful culturally diverse leaders at work resolve the contradictions and tensions of their identities within organisations. What can we learn from those leaders who have thrived and smashed the ‘bamboo ceiling?’ Moreover, are there other factors holding organisational change back? The book proposes research-based recommendations for aspiring leaders and corporate practitioners whilst revealing the potential inhibitors to progress. Split into three sections, Loon examines current research on identities in multicultural nations and organisations, delves into the career progression of successful Asian-Australian leaders to explore how they negotiate identity in the workplace, and provides a roadmap of actions for business leaders looking to create more inclusive and diverse cultures in their organisations. Written for both people new to diversity and those keen on new perspectives, the book is well-suited for aspiring leaders at any stage of their careers looking to accelerate their careers, as well as C-Suite, HR and Diversity leads.
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Roadmap to Inclusive Leadership and Agility
FOSTERING CULTURALLY DIVERSE LEADERSHIP IN ORGANISATIONS:
Lessons from Those who Smashed the Bamboo Ceiling
KAREN LOON
Introduction
One
INTRODUCTION
‘No, you can’t get a part-time job at McDonalds – you should be spending
your time at home studying’.
‘Playing the piano won’t make you any money’.
These are some of the things I recall my father saying to me when I
turned fteen. Like my school friends, I wanted to get a part-time job
to earn some money. Instead, I reluctantly complied with my father’s
wishes and spent a great deal of the next two years after school studying
at home. I am sure that I was not the only one.
Read any of the Higher School Certicate or Victorian Certicate of
Education honours rolls each year in Australia, and you’ll see that a large
proportion of the top candidates have Asian backgrounds. Most studied
at the state’s top selective schools or private schools. Many of them are
super-modest and amazingly talented. Stories abound of how many of
them have spent their weekends at ‘cramming’ schools and have ‘Tiger’
mums. Moreover, the university lecture halls for degree programmes such
as medicine, law, and accounting are crowded with students from Asian
backgrounds.Asian-Australians are the ‘model minority’ – conscientious,
self-reliant, compliant, and ambitious. This story is repeated in other
migrant-receiving countries like the United States (US), the United
Kingdom (UK), and Canada.
Yet, while people of Asian ethnicity are often superstars at school,
their success is rarely replicated to the same extent in their nations’ most
prominent corporations. Well-represented in junior ranks, they remain
seriously under-represented in senior levels of leadership.
What is leading to this? Is there a ‘bamboo ceiling’1 that is holding
them back? Or are there leadership traits that they don’t have? Are leaders
in these corporations biased towards those who demonstrate more
‘Western’ values? Or is there something else at play?
These questions have intrigued me for many years. Ethnically Chinese
but a fourth-generation Australian, I am a ‘banana’ – white on the inside,
1 Introduction
DOI: 10.4324/9781003291237-1
2 Introduction
yellow on the outside. I identify as an Asian-Australian of Chinese eth-
nicity who grew up in Australia’s country music capital, Tamworth, ve
hours by car from Sydney. I’m an anomaly in my own country.
After spending my early years in Australia, at the age of twenty-ve, I
relocated to Singapore for work and have, for the most part, lived there
ever since. Many years later, I realised that one of the main reasons for
staying in Singapore was that not only were there no female role model
partners2 in my Big 4 rm in Australia at the time; there were also no
Asian-Australian partners.
In 2011, I was seconded back to my rm in Sydney as a partner
for nineteen months, where I experienced a mini-culture shock. I was
unique – female, Asian, and I even worked full-time! While there were
many staff with Asian backgrounds at junior levels, I was one of only
two Asian female partners at the time. Aspiring Asian female leaders who
had no other role models to look up to or speak to in their business
units approached me for coffee and career advice. Yet, when I talked
to younger Asian staff, many could not see a career for themselves in
the rm and were contemplating leaving. While there were no data to
measure this, I knew that our Asian-Australian staff were leaving the rm
faster than those of other backgrounds. Further, this issue wasn’t just
one which my rm faced – it existed in almost all organisations.To me,
something felt amiss.
Leadership is a lonely experience at the best of times; however, it
can be even more difcult when you don’t feel like you belong. And
while on paper, I had ‘made it’, having made partnership at the age of
thirty-three, I felt like an ‘alien’ and alone as an Asian female partner
in Australia.
I looked younger than many of my staff. I felt uncomfortable ‘selling’
my experience to older clients, to have them look uninterestedly at me
and tell me that ‘you look very young’. I was also not married at the
time, so I was rarely invited to work-related dinner parties that revolved
around couples.
I specically recall two discussions that really struck me.The rst was
in my rst week back in Australia. I vividly remember sharing a cab with
an experienced businessperson. After telling him that I had come back
from Singapore, he responded,‘Your English is very good’.
The second was when I thought there was a pipeline issue, as it
seemed that proportionately fewer homegrown graduates were being
promoted to partner than those educated in the UK. After mentioning
this to a colleague of Asian ethnicity, she told me I was mistaken. In her
view, Australia had access to the world’s best talent, and I had been in
Singapore for too long.
I now knew how those from overseas working in Australia felt – I felt
like a second-class citizen in my own country. I sensed I didn’t belong
and was uncomfortable. This brought up memories of being a child at
primary school in Tamworth. Not realising that I was any different from
the other kids in my class, I came home crying after being called a ‘Ching
Chong Chinaman’. In high school, I was told by my English teacher that
my written English was like that of a foreign student, even though I only
spoke English. To be accepted, I became even more ‘Aussie’. I became
determined to prove that I was better than the other kids in my class.
I was extremely fortunate that I faced relatively few situations of overt
racism in Australia. However, I can’t imagine what the experiences of my
great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents ahead of me would have
been like. Australia is my country – where my ancestors had lived for
over 140 years.Yet, something didn’t feel right.
I wasn’t the only one thinking the same way – some of my fellow
Asian-Australian partners had similar thoughts. Their stories were
different; most had moved to Australia as young kids or had parents who
had migrated to Australia. It was lonely for many of us at the top. Some
felt even more alone after making it to partner, which we thought would
be the pinnacle of our careers. Other Asian-Australians I spoke to felt
that there was nothing they could do to change things and felt mis-
understood as they lived between two worlds. A small minority were
motivated to act.
Around this time, the Australian government released its White Paper
on Australia in the Asian Century, which set out a strategic framework to
guide Australia’s navigation of the Asian Century. My rm was exploring
how to best support its clients. I proposed suggestions to the rm on
how it could leverage its Asian-Australians’ cultural diversity to support
its broader Asia business objectives. It was the start of my journey as a
diversity leader.
After moving back to Singapore, I’ve observed the progress made by
corporate Australia in increasing the cultural diversity of its leadership.
There has been much more discussion of the importance of cultural
diversity in mainstream media in the past ve years. Companies also
began to announce targets to increase the cultural diversity of their lead-
ership. Further, organisations such as the Diversity Council of Australia
3 Introduction
4 Introduction
(DCA) and the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) have
published reports that tackle cultural diversity and inclusive leadership.
Finally, in the past few years,Asian-Australians started to take action. One
example was the inaugural Asian-Australian Leadership Summit (AALS)
held in September 2019, which boosted many Asian-Australians’ vision,
visibility, and voices.
Unfortunately, there has been an increase in racist incidents involving
Asian-Australians since the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to many
Asian-Australians becoming more anxious than the rest of the popula-
tion (Biddle et al., 2020). Furthermore, some Australian companies have
been pivoting their business focus away from China.
While these efforts are encouraging, not all mainstream companies
have joined the trend.While some celebrate their cultural diversity, many
others still do not focus on how to help aspiring culturally diverse leaders
reach their full potential.
One reason is that some corporate leaders believe their organisations
are still struggling to increase the proportion of women in leadership
positions. While some progress has been made in boardrooms, women
still remain underrepresented at leadership and management levels in
Australian workplaces.
Like in the US, the UK, and Canada, corporate Australia is becoming
increasingly aware of the importance of diversity. Improvements have
occurred, and, over time, we have seen advancements in its leadership
prole in the right direction. The clubbiness of senior male leaders in
leadership slowly is reducing.
However, I sometimes wonder if corporate cultures have really
changed, or whether the efforts made to date by some organisations are
‘diversity washing?’At times, I’ve been surprised to see cases where very
senior leaders dispute hard facts about gender pay gaps – denying there
are issues. Pockets of male chauvinism still exist.
Are we making actual progress? What more can we do? And if it has
been so hard to sort our gender issues out, what can we do to move the
dial on cultural diversity? Is it appropriate to take what has worked to
date for gender and apply it to cultural diversity? Or do we need to do
things differently?
WHAT IS CULTURAL DIVERSITY? AND WHY IS IT ESSENTIAL?
Before continuing, it is worth taking a step back. What is diversity, what
is cultural diversity, and why are they essential?
What is diversity?
Diversity is what makes each of us unique. It includes our
backgrounds, personality, life experiences, and beliefs – all the
things that make us who we are.These differences shape our views
of the world, our perspectives, and our approaches. In other words,
it is who we are as individuals.
When we speak about diversity, our focus tends to be on what we can
see and hear – our gender, race, nationality, and languages spoken. How-
ever, this is just one lens; there are often other aspects about individuals
that are not visible.
What is cultural diversity?
Cultural diversity, a term commonly used in Australia, refers to
having diverse ethnic backgrounds and ancestries.
There are no ofcial statistics on Australia’s ethnic or cultural
population, unlike in other countries such as the UK, which uses
the term ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic’ (BAME).
However, in the context of senior leadership, it usually refers to
having an appropriate representation of people with non-Anglo-
Celtic backgrounds (in other words, European, non-European, and
Indigenous backgrounds). The non-European population includes
people of Asian, Middle Eastern and North African, and other non-
European backgrounds.
The difculty of having a more diverse workplace is that the more
diverse we all are, the more difcult it can be to work collaboratively.
This is where the role of inclusion becomes vital.
What is inclusion?
Inclusion is where the thoughts, ideas, and perspectives of all indi-
viduals matter. It is the practice of ensuring that people feel a sense
of belonging and support from an organisation.
5 Introduction
6 Introduction
Often, the words diversity and inclusion are used together.3 However,
some argue that there is also a paradoxical relationship between having
a diverse workforce and workplace inclusion. In more recent years,
discussions have broadened to include the importance of ‘belonging’.
A common way to remember these concepts is: Diversity is being
invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance. Belonging is dan-
cing like no one’s watching.
What is the difference between meritocracy, equity, and
equality?
When we speak about diversity and inclusion, we often use
the terms ‘meritocracy’, ‘equity’, and ‘equality’ without fully
understanding what they mean.
Many workplaces claim that they are meritocratic and adopt
merit-based processes whereby people progress based solely on
their capabilities. However, numerous academics believe that
such organisations may show more signicant bias favouring the
majority (such as men over equally performing women).
There is frequently confusion about the difference between
equality and equity.While both promote fairness, equality achieves
this through treating everyone equally regardless of their needs.
In contrast, equity reaches this by treating people differently
depending on the circumstances.
In the workplace, having a diverse workplace means having a wide
range of diverse individuals.
Today, many organisations are struggling to manage their way through
the ‘Great Resignation’. Further, talent mobility ows globally have been
disrupted. Some countries, such as the UK, have become more open to
global talent, as others have shut their borders. Other diaspora groups
such as Asian-Australians in Hong Kong are repatriating home. As a
result, companies need to work much harder to attract and retain the
best available talent so they can thrive.
Numerous studies have shown that having multiple points of view can
lead to better business outcomes for organisations and a fair and equal
work environment. Further, business leaders increasingly recognise that
embracing organisational diversity is critical – one never knows where
the next important idea will emerge from. Senior teams that are homo-
geneous may not come up with the best ideas.
Diversity is not just a ‘nice to have’ – it is increasingly vital.
INCREASING WORKPLACE LEADERSHIP DIVERSITY – A COMPLEX
PROBLEM
Yet, why is moving the dial on workplace diversity and inclusion so tricky?
Even in the US, where diversity initiatives started decades ago,
following the #blacklivesmatter campaign, there has been greater soci-
etal and workplace debate on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In addition, there has been signicant commentary on workplace cul-
tural diversity barriers, including discrimination and implicit biases
against people with ethnic backgrounds. Regrettably, increasing diversity
in the workplace is one of those complex problems we cannot answer
quickly; otherwise, we would have resolved it by now.
A helpful way to analyse the challenges of increasing cultural diver-
sity in leadership is to apply the ‘Framework for Transforming Experi-
ence into Authentic Action through Role’ (Long, 2016) (Figure 1.1).
This looks at how people take up roles using an ‘outside-in’ perspective
(looking to understand the group or system rst, then the context).This
will be referred to in subsequent chapters.
The experience
of being in
Australia
The experience
of being in a
Work System
The experience
of being an
Asian-
Australian
ROLE
Action to meet the
purpose of the
Work System
Figure 1.1 The transforming experience framework as applied to an Asian-
Australian leader
Source: Adapted from Long (2016, p. 35)
7 Introduction
8 Introduction
A country’s context, the environment in which systems (in this
case, companies) operate, is inuenced by physical, political, eco-
nomic, social, historical, international, and emotional factors (Long,
2016). This consequently impacts a country’s people, organisations,
and social systems.
To illustrate, in Australia, race and ethnicity are topics that people
prefer not to talk about, unlike in the US. Historically, Australians have
identied themselves by their nationality. Growing up in Australia in the
1970s and 1980s, when there was an expectation that all Australians
would assimilate, I dened myself as Australian as I wanted to t it.
Most of my university friends were from varied ethnic backgrounds –
Anglo-Celtic, Greek, Italian, Albanian, Singaporean Chinese, and Hong
Kong Chinese.Yet, we rarely spoke much about our family backgrounds –
we just were who we were.This was due to our nation’s history, such as
the imposition of the ‘White Australia’ policy by the 1901 Immigration
Restriction Act, which shaped our identities. These policies inuenced
how many of us with non-Anglo Celtic backgrounds were brought up
and identied ourselves, and how our organisations and social systems
were founded.
The other challenge is that most organisations are established for a par-
ticular purpose, so they have their own culture and rules on how people
t into them and operate. Unfortunately, many older organisations were
not initially founded to embrace diversity, making it increasingly dif-
cult for them to pivot to embrace it.
It is not easy to change systems quickly. Doing so may require their
people to modify the system’s purpose, culture, or rules, which is not
easy. This is because there are both rational, conscious, and unconscious
dynamics within organisations, the latter of which Russ Vince at the Uni-
versity of Bath describes as ‘institutional illogics’ (Vince, 2019).
As a business leader and diversity practitioner, my discussions with
other C-suite members leading diversity strategies corroborate the
challenge of dealing with institutional illogics. Even with the best plans,
it takes time for any change initiative to show real and meaningful
progress.
Often unspoken or unconscious attitudes can prevent progress and
derail change. Common challenges I faced as a diversity leader when
seeking to inuence change included that initially, people denied that
any change was necessary. They then resisted change through rational-
isation and scapegoating.
What I found most challenging was getting others to take col-
lective and meaningful action. Some colleagues would tell me,‘Yes – I
am supportive of diversity’. Others were silent. Frequently there was
inertia among them and a lack of action, individually and collect-
ively. I sensed that their true thoughts on embracing diversity had
become repressed and were unsaid. Often, they also had too many
other challenges and distractions that they were also trying to manage.
Shifting organisational cultures towards embracing greater diver-
sity and inclusion is a long journey. Many companies can demon-
strate that greater diversity in their organisations is benecial for their
clients, people, and organisation. They also have robust accountability
frameworks and holistic measures embedded throughout the organisa-
tion. Nevertheless, my personal experience, even as a senior business
leader and owner, is that increasing leadership diversity in a tangible and
meaningful way is extremely challenging. So, I started to wonder if there
was a better way.
Many nations have been focusing on improving their gender diver-
sity for some time. For instance, the top Australian- and UK-listed com-
panies now have more than 30% women on their boards. But, on the
other hand, our most prominent institutions are rocked by sexual harass-
ment scandals on occasion. So, whilst we may have changed how things
appear, have we changed the hearts and minds of our people in our
society and organisations?
If we can’t make progress in gender, how do we then tackle cultural
diversity?
WHERE DO WE START?
There is frequently a view in some countries, such as Australia, that we
don’t need to act on something unless we have the data to prove the
extent of our issues. Sometimes, though, problems stare us in the face
without any data.
Case in point – you only need to compare people in the streets of
most cities in Australia to the leadership teams of its largest corporations
to know that something is amiss. It may surprise many people that over
15% of the Australian population have Asian-Australian ethnicity – a
higher proportion than the African-American population in the US.
These statistics don’t consider people of other ethnic backgrounds, such
as those whose ancestors are from the Middle East or Africa. Should this
not be a wake-up call?
9 Introduction
10 Introduction
We intuitively know that many multicultural nations have a problem
concerning their cultural diversity – and yet, collectively, action is not
taking place to change this. Is this because people unconsciously feel that
advancing cultural diversity is a zero-sum game? That if someone else
gets the leadership positions, they will lose out?
Furthermore, is it right to take what has worked to increase gender
diversity and apply those learnings to cultural diversity to accel-
erate progress? While specic initiatives in gender, such as targets
and disclosure, have moved the dial, have things really changed for
good? The accountant in me says yes – we will not make progress
unless we can measure change. However, I also know that numbers,
if not used sensibly, can lead to inappropriate behaviours that may
derail efforts.
While we may desire rapid change, we also need sustainable
change, not ‘diversity dressing’. Having more inclusive nations,
where our business leaders represent our population, requires us to
adapt. Society and its organisations must recognise the role they need
to take to drive progress. Merely holding feel-good events that cele-
brate our cultural diversity will not lead to improvements. Improving
cultural diversity needs to be part of a broader culture change man-
agement initiative and not delegated to the human resources (HR)
department. Change initiatives that do not deal with people’s (some-
times hidden) concerns and apprehensions will not lead to long-term
change.
Unless there is greater recognition, both by our organisations and
individuals, of the anxieties that arise unintentionally and unconsciously
between us, our progress will remain slow.
We all need to open our minds and look at this differently, possibly
unlearning and relearning how to do things. But unfortunately, that is
not easy for all of us, individually and collectively.
It is time to look at cultural diversity through a different lens.
TAKING A DIFFERENT ANGLE
Surprisingly, relatively little has been written about workplace cul-
tural diversity in leadership in Australia to date. While there has been
a signicant focus on gender, research outside of the US on cultural
diversity has tended to ignore the treatment and experiences of cul-
turally diverse workers. In addition, the available research has tended
to explore the experiences of migrants at work but not in leadership
positions.
Signicantly more studies from the US have explored race and ethnic
diversity from a critical theory perspective. Critical theory focuses on
reective assessment and critique of society and culture to reveal and
challenge power structures. Other research on cultural diversity has
focused on identity (particularly from a social identity theory (SIT) per-
spective) and biculturalism.
A great deal of the existing research on cultural diversity in the work-
place outside the US offers perspectives on the barriers to aspiring cultur-
ally diverse leaders reaching leadership roles. However, I could not nd
concrete answers on what should be done to increase the number of
culturally diverse leaders at work.
The research was often focused on either individuals or the system –
but did not always deal with both. I felt that I needed to take a step
back to nd the answers. I pondered – should I ask the culturally diverse
leaders who have made it themselves and look at their organisations
from within, through their eyes?
I decided to speak to Asian-Australians in leadership roles given
their growing presence and unique challenges in reaching leadership
positions, and as their voices have seldom been heard.
When looking for potential Asian-Australian business leaders to
interview, I found that the pool of leaders was small. Many Asian-
Australians in senior positions in their late 40s or 50s that I know, like
me, live overseas. Others had chosen to set up their own businesses,
like David and Vicki Teoh of TPG and Tim Fung of Airtasker. Of the top
twenty companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, Shemara
Wikramanayake, CEO of Macquarie Group; Sandeep Biswas, CEO of
Newcrest; and Mike Henry, CEO of BHP (who has Japanese heritage
from his mother) are some of the rare exceptions. Outside of the
ASX20, Australian listed company CEOs with Indian backgrounds
include Stockland’s Tarun Gupta, Orica’s Sanjeev Gandhi, Link’s
Vivek Bhatia, and Pact’s Sanjay Dayal. In the past, Ming Long, former
CEO of Investa Property Group who has a Malaysian Chinese back-
ground and Cleanaway’s Vik Bansal, who has Indian ethnicity, have
led ASX listed companies (Khadem, 2021). The situation is different
in the US, where many more Asian-Americans have led large
US companies.
11 Introduction
12 Introduction
As many Asian-Australians work in the accounting profession where there
has been little industry-wide research in Australia to date, I decided to speak
to current and former Asian-Australian partners in the Big 4 accounting
rms in Australia. In addition, I talked to other senior Asian-Australian
leaders across both the public and private sectors. My focus was to under-
stand their experience in the systems where they worked – home, school,
and work.After analysing the interviews, some interesting patterns emerged.
DISSIMILAR PATHS, DISSIMILAR EXPERIENCES, SAME DESTINATION
While the career progression of the Asian-Australian leaders overall was
in line with what I had expected, what intrigued me were their diver-
gent stories at the age of twelve. This is the age when most kids change
schools and are to making new friends in a new environment.
Ben and Michael4 – same destinations, different paths
Ben was born overseas but moved to Australia at an early age.‘I came
here with my family with absolutely no money’, he shared with me.
‘We weren’t poor, we weren’t rich. I didn’t have the latest Nike shoes, I
didn’t have the latest t-shirts or anything like that’. Ben moved schools
during his childhood, at a time when there was little cultural diversity
in his city. He found that his childhood was tough at this age.
Ben recalled being picked on and physically abused by three
bigger boys in the playground as he was different. He believes that
his experiences in the playground shaped how he operates as an adult.
‘It’s actually increased my resilience… I think resilience is really
important in a professional sense’, he told me, noting that it taught
him to tolerate people and to problem solve – how could he get
out of being teased or physically bashed up? During his work
career, I found that he seemed to repeat similar patterns when he
faced adversities – to think about how he could resolve problems
largely independently.
Michael had a similar ethnic background. He spent his early
years growing up in an English-speaking household in Singapore.
Just before high school, he moved to Australia.
He recalls a situation at school.
These kids came up to me and they said “Yo – do you
speak English?” My immediate response in my head
as an 11-year-old was, wow, you know, look at them being
discriminatory. [This was] quickly followed by a second
thought, which was, well, maybe they just want to know me,
right? And then the third thought was, don’t they know that
everyone in Singapore speaks English? Almost everyone in
Singapore speaks English. So, it’s kind of three very distinct
thoughts, one after the other.
Michael recalls the kids were curious about him; however, he even-
tually became a good friend with them and had a good school
experience overall. He learnt from that incident that we all have
pre-conceptions about situations. His leadership style is that he
builds long-term trusted relationships with his clients and peers.
Ben and Michael, who both have similar ethnic backgrounds, became
successful partners in Big 4 rms. Yet, both approached similar situations
in their adolescence in quite different ways. Michael’s story wasn’t in line
with the more typically reported stories of people with culturally diverse
backgrounds who are picked on at school and react negatively to the situation.
Pondering further, I realised that there might be a lot more to how
Asian-Australian leaders become leaders than working hard and having
sponsors within their organisations.
I wondered whether their experiences in early childhood with their
parents impacted how they dealt with stressful situations in life and at
work. Could their family experiences have also shaped their experiences
and relationships with peers? What else aided them in succeeding?
I drilled deeper into their stories further. I concluded that there could
be additional inuences at play that help us understand how culturally
diverse leaders succeeded in the workplace.
OVERVIEW OF THIS BOOK
This book explores how people like Ben and Michael became leaders and
seeks to understand their journeys and their experiences of resolving
identity conicts on the way. It also examines their experiences in the
organisations in which they work. Finally, incorporating my research
ndings and leveraging my experience as a business leader and diversity
practitioner, the book suggests practical recommendations for aspiring
culturally diverse leaders. It also provides a roadmap for fostering cultur-
ally diverse leadership in organisations.
13 Introduction
14 Introduction
Feel free to read the book in its entirety if you are less familiar with
the topics covered. Alternatively, deep-dive into different parts of the
book if you already have an awareness of specic topics.
The book is divided into three parts.
Part I, Laying the Foundations, introduces some of the concepts I will
explore in this book. It examines identities in multicultural nations and
efforts by companies to increase their cultural diversity at work to date.
Part II, Lessons from Culturally Diverse Leaders who Smashed the Bamboo
Ceiling, delves into the career progression of successful Asian-Australian
leaders. It looks at how they manage the various tensions and paradoxes they
face in the organisations in which they work. It also explores how their early
childhood experiences and adult attachment styles impact their career paths.
I conclude with Part III, which provides a Roadmap for Fostering Cul-
turally Diverse Leadership in Organisations, leveraging my Career Pro-
gression Model for Culturally Diverse Leaders. I share what individuals
can do to super-charge their careers at work and provide a roadmap for
driving organisational change towards greater culturally diverse lead-
ership. Finally, I propose that fostering culturally diverse leadership in
organisations will require an ecosystem approach.
Chapter summary
Culturally diverse leadership is essential for all organisations. Many
companies have recognised its importance in supporting their
business outcomes and have enhanced their efforts to improve the
cultural diversity of their workforces. However, to date, workplace
cultural diversity initiatives in many multicultural nations have not
gone far enough. Few people with culturally diverse backgrounds
have reached their business’ highest echelons, particularly those
of Asian ethnicity. Further, many of their organisations remain
focused on improving gender diversity.
Often, historical context and institutional illogics in
organisations inhibit change. For instance, the unique history of
Asian-Australians and race in Australia is frequently an unspoken
topic that may hinder real improvement.
Organisations need to consider using a different lens to under-
stand the potential blockers to change and identify innovative
solutions to increase the cultural diversity of their leadership.
Questions to ask yourself and your team members
Yourself
What does diversity and inclusion mean to me personally?
To what extent is diversity and inclusion in the workplace
important to me? Why?
Your team members
What is our view on the effort to date by our organisation to
increase the diversity of our leadership? What has inuenced or
inhibited its progress to date?
What elements of diversity are important in our organisation?
What are our initial views on what more could be done to foster
culturally diverse leadership in our organisation?
NOTES
1 The ‘bamboo ceiling’ describes the barriers some people of Asian ethnicity believe
they face when seeking leadership positions in the workplace in Western organisations.
2 The term ‘partner’ refers to a senior position within professional services rms (PSFs).
‘Partnerships’ are the ownership collectives formed by PSFs to carry out work for
clients. Historically, PSFs were set up as legal partnerships. The term has remained,
even though many have been incorporated as corporations. Most PSFs retain features
such as using the title ‘partner’, their prot-sharing status, and the partnership ethos
of ‘being there for one another’.
3 In this book, I may use the word ‘diversity’ without ‘inclusion’. However, increasing
diversity also requires a simultaneous focus on inclusion.
4 The names and other identiers of some of the leaders I interviewed for this book have
been changed and disguised to protect their anonymity. I am deeply indebted to them
for their generosity and courage in telling me their stories.
REFERENCES
Biddle, N., Gray, M., & Lo, J. Y. (2020). The Experience of Asian-Australians during the COVID-
19 Pandemic: Discrimination and Wellbeing. Australian National University. https://csrm.
cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/experience-asian-australians-during-
covid-19-pandemic-discrimination-and
Khadem, N. (2021, December 2). Twitter’s New Indian-American CEO Highlights
Corporate Australia’s Lack of Cultural Diversity. ABC News. https://www.abc.
net.au/news/2021-12-02/america-indian-ceo-twitter-parag-agrawal-twitter-
diversity/100667392
15 Introduction
Long, S. (2016).The Transforming Experience Framework and Unconscious Processes: A
Brief Journey Through the History of the Unconscious as Applied To Person, System
and Context with an Exploratory Hypothesis of Unconscious as Source. In S. Long
(Ed.), Transforming Experience in Organisations:A Framework for Organisational Research and Consult-
ancy (pp. 29–106). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429484254
Vince, R. (2019). Institutional Illogics:The Unconscious and Institutional Analysis. Organ-
ization Studies, 40(7), 953–973. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618765866
16 Introduction
... Psychodynamic theories provide a different lens to understand identity and identity processes, particularly for people with multiple identities (Petriglieri, 2020;Zietsma et al., 2019). In a recent study, Loon (2023) investigated how Asian Australians become partners in the Big Four firms in Australia through a system psychodynamics lens 5 and using theories of identity development and attachment. In addition to experiencing role and task anxieties, as their careers progress, they encounter tensions between being themselves and being part of the partnership collective. ...
... However, everyone believed the illusion that work-family balance was a woman's problem rather than a casualty of the firm's grueling 24/7 work culture. Loon (2023) maintains that institutional illogics can inhibit improving cultural diversity in accounting firms. Exploring culturally diverse partners' responses to accounting firms' "rules and registers", she noted that accounting firms implement numerous processes (Empson, 2017) and social defenses to help manage their organizational anxieties and paradoxes. ...
... These unconscious dynamics, designed to protect the organization, strongly influence the organizational culture and behaviors of the people in them and can impede change. Loon concluded that to "move the dial" on cultural diversity will require accounting firms and their partners to become much more aware of how unconscious dynamics can inhibit change (Loon, 2023). Their partners should hold a mirror to themselves and focus on individual awareness and acknowledgment of the unconscious group processes in place (Foldy and Buckley, 2017). ...
Chapter
As globalization accelerated in the second half of the 20th century and companies grew beyond their home markets, accounting firms have expanded to meet their clients’ needs. At the same time, the accounting profession attracted many people to work in it, particularly those from culturally diverse backgrounds in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, as it supported their upward mobility. Further, national accounting bodies signed mutual recognition agreements, which allow accountants to work in another country without completely re-credentialing, supporting the mobility of qualified accountants globally further. The diversity strategies of many accounting firms have traditionally focused on ensuring they have the right people to meet client demands. Creating inclusive environments has become increasingly important for accounting firms over the past 20 years, given rising client expectations for innovative solutions. Like other professions, accounting firms have faced challenges in attracting and retaining talent in recent years. Many firms do not have proportionate cultural diversity in their senior leadership teams and partnership levels, and culturally diverse accountants frequently face challenges in reaching leadership positions. Due to colonial legacies, institutional logics, and institutional illogics, their firms’ initiatives have not led many people with culturally diverse backgrounds to reach their highest echelons in some markets. Leading firms create environments of psychological safety in their teams and support culturally diverse talent through access to sponsors, mentors, coaches, and leadership programs as they negotiate their leadership journeys. Future research suggestions are proposed.
... The influence of the organizational system of accounting firms can have an even more profound impact on the career journeys of diverse aspiring leaders. To illustrate, exploring the experiences of Asian-Australians seeking partnerships in the Big Four firms in Australia, Loon (2023) found that as culturally diverse professionals become more senior in accounting firms, they increasingly experience tensions and anxieties. In addition to feeling the pressure to adopt the partner identity and tensions between individual and collective interests (Ibarra, 2000;Mangen and Garnier, 2021), culturally diverse individuals struggle more than their non-Asian peers with managing these tensions and feeling authentic. ...
Chapter
As global multinational organizations have embraced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over the past decade, so has the accounting profession in the Asia Pacific, given its importance to their clients and to support their talent management. In addition, many global and national accounting professional bodies which operate in the region now champion the importance of DEI with their members. Today, female accountants are well represented in partnership ranks in some Asia-Pacific countries compared to other jurisdictions, although less so in senior leadership teams. While accounting firms in the Asia Pacific embrace greater gender diversity, their attention to other diversity focus areas and approaches in the countries where they operate vary depending on the societal and organizational contexts. As DEI programs are generally voluntary initiatives in most Asia-Pacific markets, implementing them can be challenging, given the region’s diversity and each country’s unique cultural values. Many firms face a dilemma: roll out global initiatives in their markets, develop local initiatives, or adopt a hybrid model. Further, many leaders traditionally view diversity as a Western concept. Some DEI concepts, such as individualism vs. collectivism, do not resonate well in local markets. When developing strategies and initiatives, leading firms tailor their initiatives to the complexities of their local markets. Examples of initiatives adopted are shared.
Article
The theme of this essay is how to engage with unconscious dynamics in our analysis of institutions. The essay clarifies the ways in which the unconscious influences institutional structures and organizational practices, and this is the main theoretical contribution to organization studies. A conceptual framework is presented that can help scholars of organizations and institutions to deepen analysis and understanding of how peoples' organizational lives can be shaped by dynamics that are beyond reason; as well as how such dynamics are embedded in social structures. The terms unconscious and institution are aligned to illustrate a new concept, 'institutional illogics'. This refers to the structuring and unsettling effects of unconscious dynamics, particularly social defenses and shared fantasies, on organizations and institutions. Examples from published, empirical papers are used to illustrate the value of the framework. The concept of illogics is intended to encourage balance alongside the influence of logics on institutional analysis.
The Experience of Asian-Australians during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Discrimination and Wellbeing. Australian National University
  • N Biddle
  • M Gray
  • J Y Lo
Biddle, N., Gray, M., & Lo, J. Y. (2020). The Experience of Asian-Australians during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Discrimination and Wellbeing. Australian National University. https://csrm. cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/experience-asian-australians-duringcovid-19-pandemic-discrimination-and
Twitter's New Indian-American CEO Highlights Corporate Australia's Lack of Cultural Diversity
  • N Khadem
Khadem, N. (2021, December 2). Twitter's New Indian-American CEO Highlights Corporate Australia's Lack of Cultural Diversity. ABC News. https://www.abc. net.au/news/2021-12-02/america-indian-ceo-twitter-parag-agrawal-twitterdiversity/100667392
The Transforming Experience Framework and Unconscious Processes: A Brief Journey Through the History of the Unconscious as Applied To Person, System and Context with an Exploratory Hypothesis of Unconscious as Source
  • S Long
Long, S. (2016).The Transforming Experience Framework and Unconscious Processes: A Brief Journey Through the History of the Unconscious as Applied To Person, System and Context with an Exploratory Hypothesis of Unconscious as Source. In S. Long (Ed.), Transforming Experience in Organisations: A Framework for Organisational Research and Consultancy (pp. 29-106). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429484254