Before Anyone Was Paying Attention
Back in 2006, diversity on the board room wasn't often discussed. Many companies weren’t even asking the question, much less acting on it. It was right then that Raj Tulsiani thought, we need to turn this into a business.
Raj, who is currently the CEO and co-founder of leading global talent advisory firm Green Park has been doing this for nearly twenty years. Not because it became fashionable. He knew from day one that including diverse kinds of people in senior leadership was not only the right thing to do, it was also the smartest thing to do.
And that early belief is a big reason why Raj Tulsiani is known as one of the most inspiring CEOs in 2022.
A Different Kind of Recruitment Firm
Raj did not set out to create a run-of-the-mill headhunting business. Having witnessed how traditional executive search firms operated, he was unconvinced.
For him, the problem was simple. Headhunters churn someone who fits a brief and pass them on. Job done. But that does not boost company growth. It does not threaten the establishment. It just fills a gap.
This feature is intended to give the user more time to focus on scenario and specs Raj wanted Green Park do something useful Rather than just placing candidates, he wanted to be putting forward change agents, leaders who would alter how organisations think, what decisions they make when and how they build teams. People who have real lived experience and the confidence to do things differently, rather than just recreate what was already there.
And that concept became the basis for Green Park’s executive search, and talent advisory work, which still fuels the firm to this day.
The Way He Leads
Raj is forthright about the type of leader he strives to be. Authentic. Driven. Caring. Not the three words you hear from people who run global firms but Raj means it.
And he is wise and realistic in his way of thinking about leadership. He speaks openly about the realities of business, mistakes are made, unforeseen challenges arise and the best thing to do is to rebound as quickly as possible. For him, bold moves are not what endanger a talent manager; it's burning out or losing the trust of team members in search of victories at any price.
He also expects the same from himself as he does for others. For Green Park to be the vehicle that helps clients build even more inclusive cultures, Green Park has to work that way itself. This type of fidelity, between the message you send and the actions you take is what he believes will produce enduring devotion.
The Data Advantage Most People Don’t Know About
The Origins algorithm is a tool we have behind the scenes at Green Park. Running quietly for more than a decade, it is among the largest reasons the firm knows that diverse leadership landscape as well as anyone.
Origins is a two-part research study that tracks the composition of leadership by race and gender over time, across industries. It uncovers trends, reveals gaps and identifies talent that conventional search firms often miss.
Others are just beginning to consider how they might develop this kind of data capability; Raj had it in place years ago. This action has created a higher potential of diverse talent links for Green Park — and a clearer view of the true reality of where leadership diversity is.
It is proof that Green Park walking the diversity walk, rather than just talking it.
Race Equality Isn’t a Campaign for Him, It’s a Commitment
Raj co-founded Race Equality Matters in 2020, a community interest company with one precise purpose: to turn rhetoric on race equality in the workplace into reality.
This wasn’t a PR move. This was a public articulation of what Raj had always privately believed, that talking about race equality without standing up for it is in itself a form of harm.
What came following was in the grand scale of things surprising. Race Equality Week connected over 3.5 million people across UK workplaces in 2022 The first month of the #MyNameIs campaign focused even harder on racial microaggressions generate 1.75 billion impressions.
These numbers matter. But to Raj, it's the cultural change they represent that matters more, workplaces where race is no longer something people talk around, but rather a subject they go through honestly and constructively.
How He Works With Clients
When someone arrives at Green Park with an issue — low staff morale, a cultural problem, the need to spin up a more diverse leadership team immediately, his first step is not to ask how they got there. They already know there is a problem. That’s why they reached out.
What happened next is what Raj is concentrating on. An honest assessment, an array of choices laid out clearly, and a sincere willingness to help the client reach a better state, not just once, but repeatedly.
He has a lot to say specifically when it comes to real partnerships versus one off transactions. The results are always better when clients and advisors work collaboratively, exchanging ideas, challenging each other, co-creating solutions. The companies who build that sort of relationship don’t solve the problem of today. They create something to depend on.
Always Moving Forward
One thing common about Raj Tulsiani as CEO is he never coasts.
Driven by fresh thought in the world of diversity inclusion, leadership, Green Park is always learning: working where capability in the diversity and inclusion landscape moves towards and how to be genuinely useful by the time we get there. You do not want to the greatest voice in a crowd. It is to create what can endure, two way bridges between leadership and talent communities that statistically represent our society; the type of social capital earned through purposeful business.
His long-term objective is to support organisations in getting to a place where diversity & inclusion does not require a separate program or an external consultant to maintain it. Where it becomes just a part of how the business works.
Closing Thoughts: What Makes Raj Tulsiani Worth Paying Attention To
There are lots of business leaders who preach values A little less those who have developed a business proving them over twenty years?
One of the things that makes Raj Tulsiani unique, as a CEO, as head of an EDI consultancy and an advocate for race equality is because nothing about the business was built to capitalise on any moment. It grew from a belief that has remained unchanged since day one: organisations are most successful when led by people with different mindsets, skillsets and backgrounds that bring something truly new.
That concept has come a lot closer to fruition in recent years. Long before this was the obvious thing to do, Raj Tulsiani has been working toward it. That is what lands him on this list.
Also Read: Gail Ernst: Military Career, Leadership & Life Story
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