In House Counsel Discusses How Organizations Can Achieve "Strength Through Diversity" by Javier Robles, Esq.

Diversity is synonymous with strength. It is absolutely necessary to survive and to flourish-- that is true in nature and it is absolutely true in business world. Monoculture equals vulnerability.

For proof, look no further than the humble banana. One particular strain of the fruit accounts for 99 percent of the world’s exports – it is you might say, the “top banana." And just like its earlier iterations, the banana has been exterminated by blight; this one is no different, threatened now by a single soil-borne fungus. A world that eats only one sort of banana is doomed, it appears, to one day go without the popular fruit. By analogy, similar vulnerabilities can afflict homogenous companies in a globalized economy. In any competitive environment, multiculturalism has its advantages.

My father always said to me, if you meet someone with an accent, you should recognize and appreciate that you are talking to someone who knows more than you — a different language, a different culture. Of course, he had a heavy accent! We spoke Spanish at home (I learned English from friends and by watching Sesame Street), and while my brother and sister were born in Chile, I was born in Newark, New Jersey. Unfamiliar with the traditions of this new country, my mother sent me off to kindergarten wearing a bow tie, like any good Chilean boy, only to be teased by my peers.

But my blond hair and light skin made it easy for me to otherwise blend in, and I soon became quite content to be seen as a gringo. It was not until high school that I understood the power of my father’s words, embracing my family’s culture and recognizing in my own life the benefits that diversity confers. It was the accent, the greetings with a kiss and hug, the music in our home, that made my friends congregate there – making me perhaps the last one to realize how lucky I was to be different.

Straddling two continents, two cultures and two languages, I know now that I am blessed. Once I became comfortable in my divergent identities, I could recognize others who were doing the same. In law school, I gravitated away from the students from more affluent backgrounds, who coasted on their inherited privilege. With their tuition comfortably paid, and jobs secured for them on the outside, they were relaxed and happy to be so. Far more interesting to me were the students who also had a sense of divergent identity, as can be found in campus associations of Latin students, Jewish students, African-American students, etc. I joined them all, every group I could find.

Even though I appeared white, I found that my first-generation immigrant experience had a great deal in common with these students who banded together to make their own ways. That approach helped me to survive law school — my first experience at a private school — and to find systems of support that I later sought in my workplaces. I came to understand diversity not as demographically defined, but as a richness of experience that I have been lucky to find in colleagues of all descriptions since.

I also found along my journey that your career depends on finding well-placed mentors. One of mine was Judge Anne E. Thompson, the first African-American woman ever appointed to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. She appreciated that my story was different, that my diversity was my strength, and she took me on as an intern. This position opened many doors for me, which otherwise may have been closed. It often takes someone reaching down or reaching across to help create a bridge to places that are not historically diverse. While Judge Thompson’s efforts made my career possible, my strengths prepared me to maximize opportunities when they arose.

The idea that diversity can play a critical role in business and development has never escaped me. In fact, no company drove that notion home for me more than Western Union, where I served as in-house counsel for nine years. In the international division where I worked, diversity was absolutely essential since Western Union's business model is focused entirely on wiring money across international borders. Speaking multiple languages and finding unexpected connections between countries drove success. During my time at Western Union, the international side — which by necessity took more business-related risks than the domestic department — actually became the larger, more profitable component of the business.

Meanwhile the company came to find that its domestic customer base had become predominantly Spanish-speaking, insight the domestic side had missed for years. Recognizing its new strengths, the corporation adapted and evolved. The flexibility of Western Union was made possible, in part, because of managers such as my boss, who had a knack for identifying the abilities of those around him and leveraging employees to exploit their abilities. His keen sense stemmed, I believe, from his experiences traveling around the world. If diversity means having an array of options, it also creates the opportunity to identify the best one in a given situation. And so I have learned, in business (as in life) having a different perspective, a different angle, creates unique insight, leverage and an undeniable advantage. And so we pity the banana and hope it finds the diversity it needs to survive!

Today, my two children spend their summers in South America, visiting my homeland of Chile and that of their mother, who is from Colombia. Even those dual influences give them different qualities — Colombians are seen as passionate; Chileans, meticulous — to complement their American upbringing. I want them to gain the full benefit of their experience; I want them to feel whole. I tell them, This is your strength. And I also tell them, You are so very fortunate.

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Javier Robles serves as Deputy General Counsel at Comcast. He manages the company’s international compliance program including its anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and international trade control efforts. Prior to joining Comcast in 2010, he served as Chief Corporate Compliance & Ethics Officer for The Western Union Company and its subsidiaries. While there he directed the Corporate Compliance and Ethics Office and was responsible for overseeing the development of the Company's code of conduct, employee training, the ethics helpline and investigations. Prior to Western Union's 2006 spin off into a separate public company, he managed First Data Corporation's FCPA program and coordinated its international compliance training.