DIVERSITY,
not Divinity
Rotating careers and keeping
true to self launched Don H. Liu
BY TIM HARPER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUIGI CIUFFETELI
SITTING AT A CONFERENCE TABLE AT XEROX HEADQUARTERS
in Norwalk, Connecticut, Don H. Liu grabs a pen and pad and draws
a box with a large block “W” in the middle. The general counsel,
executive vice president and secretary of Xerox Corporation has a
lesson to impart. The box is a room full of executives, he explains.
The “W” is a problem they are working on. If the room is full of white
males, all with similar backgrounds and viewpoints, one of them
says, “That’s a ‘W.’” The imaginary men adjust their ties and nod
in agreement. But if there are minority executives in the room, the
problem might not look so clear-cut.
“Different groups of people have different perspectives,” Liu says. “We
need those people because they might actually come up with solutions
that other people can’t solve.”
Rotating the pad 180 degrees, Liu says, “Look, it’s actually an ‘M.’”
Rotating the paper once more, the letter could possibly be an “E,” or
maybe even the number three.
Liu doesn’t just talk diversity. He lives it. In 1999 when Liu got his
first general counsel job, for IKON Office Solutions, he had to build a
new 13-lawyer in-house legal team. Liu hired an executive recruiter and
told him he wanted diversity. Initially the recruiter kept insisting that
he couldn’t find qualified women or minority lawyers. Liu said: “You are
talking to one, and I can’t be the only one out there. Find me diverse
candidates, or I will find another headhunter.”
