Affirmative action: Changing the race and gender demographics of global sports leadership is fraught with conundrums, dilemmas and quandaries. It is not a quota policy, tokenism or putting someone in a leadership position simply for putting-them sake. It’s not as simple as it’s your or my turn now. It’s not symbolic. Equality is not always fair.
Not many who seek to address historical ableism, ageism, racism and sexism have the appetite to stomach the conundrums, dilemmas and quandaries of ensuring systematic changes to discriminatory power structures.
A harsh reality of life - that the road to hell can be paved with good intentions. When you are fighting for a cause - you become so purposeful and passionate that you ignore warning signs and cautionary words from others whose motives you may question, such is your determination and dedication to the cause you may be fighting.
As a vocal advocate for equity, inclusion, diversity and non-discrimination in all its forms, my allyship and activism are well known and acknowledged. Understanding the challenges and establishing guidelines is as important as breaking down barriers. There must be equity for there to be equality. Diversity is more than a tick box quota.
Shaped by vision leadership is a meritocracy that demands an inherent commitment to accountability and transparency. I recall in 2013 my predecessor telling the media that being a good manager doesn’t necessarily make you a good leader. While at that time some took his comment as a personal dig at me, I took it as a hard truth and challenge that I had to be mindful of. Competency, capacity and capability as a good manager and or administrator aren’t necessarily transferable to leadership.
In response to the civil rights movement, President John F. Kennedy created a Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity in 1961 and issued Executive Order 10925, which used the term “affirmative action” to refer to measures designed to achieve non-discrimination.
“Affirmative action can be defined as the laws, programmes or activities designed to redress past imbalances and to ameliorate the conditions of individuals and groups who have been disadvantaged on the grounds of race, gender and disability.” - Source Wikipedia.
Diversity, however, we define it, is politically constructed and politically maintained. It doesn’t just happen. It’s a choice we make as a society - Louis Menand - January 13, 2020 New Yorker article.
In the absence of affirmative action/positive discrimination/preferential treatment, the danger is the reversion to the status quo ante. Real diversity, equity and inclusion is not tokenism.
It is a ‘ call to duty’ that requires a standard of accountability that can withstand close scrutiny. Too many beneficiaries of affirmative action become part of the problem and the status quo ante.
A leader without the necessary competencies may not be effective and efficient in leading an organisation.
Effective leaders stand on a foundation of solid governance principles. They understand modern governance, emerging issues and 21st-century solutions to complex problems.
An argument against affirmative action is that it is unfair as it enables a sense of entitlement that fosters mediocrity as individuals who are given an opportunity on the basis of affirmative action may not be equipped to perform - they aren’t up to the task.
Even as affirmative action is taking positive steps to end discrimination, to prevent its recurrence, and to create new opportunities that were previously denied to marginalised groups or individuals. It is a contradiction as it is discriminatory. It must go beyond the numbers.
