Who appointed these men to speak for me?

Last week’s JC had a huge exclusive — as you doubtless know. But let me tell you what I thought when I read it and then looked at the pictures of all the trustees who knew, and chose not to publicise the affair. I immediately thought: this is typical, bloody men.

There is much research to suggest that diversity benefits organisations, that the more diversity you have, the more diverse opinions there will be to share. And the more ways to benefit from better ideas or ways of looking at things.

There is evidence that suggests employees feel more positive about organisations if they are more diverse and that turnover rates are lower. In their Why Diversity Matters report, Catalyst show that women in senior leadership are associated with better financial performance, corporate governance and less unethical behaviour. Mixed organisations mean less groupthink, less likelihood of everyone protecting their own.

Let’s recap. All the trustees at the JLC (an organisation that proclaims that it “leads” the Jewish community) were white men. A white man then acted in a questionable way. What happened? The other white men protected him. No man blew the whistle.