As corporations diversify their leadership, they also need to think about politics.
Corporate leadership teams are often composed of people with the same political ideology. A 2015 survey of 1,000 board members at U.S. companies found that they disproportionately leaned Republican. In some market sectors, like industrials and utilities, as few as 15% of board members identified as Democrats, compared to 49% of the U.S. population. In sectors like consumer goods, on the other hand, leadership teams lean liberal.
Neither situation is healthy for business. Why? Executive teams that consist only of conservative or liberal members are susceptible to the same type of “groupthink” that can result with all-male or all-white leadership teams.
How politics can influence corporate decision-making
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