Yes, they have names that sound to American ears like members of minority groups. But Muñoz is from Spain, Tavares from Portugal: They were born into the established, dominant male group in their respective Iberian nations.
Muñoz is global COO for Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America. It’s in that latter role where the expat has put together a leadership team that reflects America’s rich diversity.
“He has a female chief marketing officer. He has a chief communication officer who’s an African American female. He has me that leads product and mobility,” Boyle said. “He has Claudia Marquez, who’s the [COO] of Genesis. His EVP of sales is an African American male, Randy Parker.”
She said Muñoz’s commitment to diversity — and to business results — drew her back to the auto industry.
“I worked … at Visa, Fiat Chrysler, at Ford, IBM and I had never seen that, right? And we are a dynamic team,” she said. “He holds us to account and has very high standards for what we have to do.”
Keeping that pipeline flowing is the responsibility of all leaders, Boyle said.
“We have to take it on ourselves as senior leaders — the accountability for understanding the real struggles that underrepresented minorities feel in a majority-centered space and take it upon ourselves to reach out, to make them feel included, to be their champion when their voice is discussed in a meeting, to be their champion behind the scenes when we’re deciding who’s going to get the next promotion or the next leadership opportunity or the next opportunity to speak in front of leaders. We want to make sure that everybody’s getting that equal chance.”
The obvious business benefits of diversity are having a bigger pool of potential hires for key roles and a broader range of perspectives on how to solve problems.
These women — and their CEOs — illustrate yet again the value to be uncovered in valuing all people.