Talent Circles

Friday, January 22, 2016

A Tribute to a Pioneer of Workplace Diversity

Written by Susan Magrino

You likely know that one of the most important talent management practices you can focus on this year is creating a diverse workforce. What you might not fully consider, however, is the multitude of options you have for making that culture a reality. In fact, sometimes the people who can add diversity to a work environment don’t even see themselves in that light. So, it’s up to recruiters and talent management personnel to be open and creative in the way they seek out potential employees and consider what they can bring to the table.
This realization that individuals themselves can be either unaware of--or unwilling to focus on--their own differences really hit home for me this week when a dear friend and colleague of mine passed away. My friend, Herb Greenberg, was the founder and CEO of the global human resources management company, Caliper. Before I ever met Herb, I had spoken with him over the phone more times than I can count, and the things that stood out about him were his belief, passion and commitment to his company. He was forceful, opinionated and hardworking. It wasn’t until I finally met him that I found out he was blind. To him, that had very little to do with who he was. So he never talked about it. For everyone who knew him, however, it just made the success he was able to achieve that much more incredible.
Herb was featured in a Fortune magazine article not too long ago, and, in honor of his memory, I’m posting a link to that well done piece. It is one of the very few articles where he actually discussed his disability and how it affected him. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the article, Herb Greenberg and Believing in the Power of Potential, and get to know this amazing individual who, even at the age of 86, was still committed to the success of the company he founded more than 50 years ago.   

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