A Business Case for Diversity by Lance McPherson

Spring 2009

Those who perceive diversity as exclusively a moral imperative or societal goal are missing the mark. Workforce diversity needs to be viewed as a competitive advantage and a business opportunity. That’s why MTV Networks makes diversity a business priority.

Ten years ago, I walked into MTV's legal department for the first time. As I looked around the department, my excitement grew. For the first time in my career I felt comfortable, I felt relaxed, I felt included. Surprisingly, I was surrounded by an extremely diverse group of attorneys, who I came to learn were not only diverse in every sense of the word but who were also talented, smart, and ambitious business people. I knew MTV was known for its young, "hip" workforce, but I was delighted that MTV had an established business infrastructure committed to diversity, particularly in terms of race, gender, and sexual orientation.

MTV was a refreshing change for me. When I graduated from Rutgers Law School, I, like many of my classmates, started my career at a small firm of eighty-five attorneys. Of the eighty-five, I was one of three minority attorneys. My firm's lack of diversity made it difficult for me to relate to my colleagues. Eventually, I found my firm environment stifling. I never felt comfortable being myself. This made me a less productive contributor to the firm and therefore the firm a less effective representative. I did not have a mentor or relationships with experienced minority attorneys who could empathize with my experience and provide me with guidance. This void made dealing with my unique circumstances more difficult.

Granted, I was not shocked necessarily by my firm’s lack of diversity. I was well aware that minorities were significantly under represented in most law firms. I, in fact, was the first African-American in my family to obtain a law degree. In my experience, minorities in my generation were rarely exposed to other minority professionals—it just was not the norm. We never had the opportunity to work in a law office, or go to lunch with a judge, or run in circles with attorneys—we simply did not have those connections.

A turning point in my education came when I was an undergraduate at the University of Maryland. I took a mock trial class that first introduced me to the legal field and introduced me to my first and only African-American academic mentor, my professor. I was fascinated by the litigation process and mock trial allowed me to fully explore this interest while building a relationship with my professor who could provide me with insight on my growing interest to attend law school. My thirst for knowledge of the legal field and the guidance provided by my professor led me straight to law school.

At Rutgers Law, I was part of a richly diverse student population. Rutgers opened many doors in the legal community and I found myself slowly making my own connections and building my very own networks. I leveraged every opportunity that came my way and like many of my peers I blazed my own trail in the legal world. Increased diversity in the legal profession provides younger generations with a path to follow, but most importantly they have a connection.

So after law school, while I was at my firm, the stars aligned and an opportunity to work at MTV came my way. Even during my interview I noticed the diversity of experiences, of races, of personalities, of perspectives. It was refreshing. Now having been here for ten years, I know that that interview was just the beginning of a positive vicious cycle. MTV had an infrastructure in place to not only recruit diverse talent but to perpetuate, nurture and retain that diverse talent. All business people understand that hiring an employee is not simply a matter of finding the most qualified candidate. The reality is that employers gravitate to the candidates with whom they feel most comfortable—quite naturally those with whom they share common interests and life experiences. By ensuring that a diverse group of employees are included in the hiring process the process is more likely to be inclusive and protected from unintended exclusion. Diversity begets diversity.

The more tenured I became at MTV the more apparent it became to me that we did not implement diversity initiatives to be politically correct. Indeed, it is a sound business practice. MTV has a very diverse audience, therefore our business must reflect that audience. It is well proven that diverse business and legal departments promote creativity and innovation. A diverse group of people reacts and thinks differently, approaches challenges and solves problems differently, makes suggestions and decisions differently, and sees different opportunities. Tapping into these unique perspectives leads to superior business performance.

Today’s global marketplace makes diversity even more critical. How do you sell products or provide services to India and China, competing against companies that are native to these countries, without a wide range of insights and experiences? Similarly, if you are going to appeal to a minority demographic, it is essential to understand and represent the nuances of that culture.

In fact, MTV takes diversity so seriously that we inform the companies we do business with that diversity is a priority. While we certainly do not dictate how they should run their businesses, we have made them aware that we believe it is important to our business and should be important to them. We truly believe there is a strong business case for diversity.

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Lance G. McPherson is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law in Newark; admitted to the New Jersey and New York bar. Presently, he is Vice President and Sr. Counsel at MTV Networks where he practices entertainment law and focuses on the areas of production, development and event programming.