Texas Diversity Council Board Member Profile
 Ed Dolanski was 12 when his WWII veteran dad retired. Ed had watched with a child's eyes as his dad aged and new generations came into the company he had given 42 years of loyalty. "The company just didn't put as much value in diversity of thought," Dolanski remembers. Age was not considered an attribute. Tenure and knowing the history of the company and industry couldn't out-rank youth at that time and older employees lost traction and were de-valued. Seeing that experience from his father's perspective, Dolanski promised himself as a future leader he would always pay attention to diversity of thought. For Dolanski, who is President & Chief Executive Officer for Aviall, a supplier to the aviation industry, a company is much like a tree. The employees are its roots. Newer employees exist closer to the surface and can cause the tree to grow very fast given the right circumstances, but it takes time for roots to grow deep enough to stabilize the tree and sustain it for the long term. "The taproot of the tree is comprised of the folks that have experience. They have years of knowing the industry, the market, the culture, what's gone well and what hasn't. They know where the water is," Dolanski says. "You can have the fastest growing tree in the world, but you take out the taproot and that tree will die." "We can learn so much from history and it makes us better leaders. Each of us has a very unique set of attributes that we bring to the table, whether it is from our background, our perspectives, or within the socio-cultural elements in which we live with our families," Dolanski says. Back in the 1980s before diversity and inclusion were commonplace, this type of thinking came as a personal "a-ha" moment, when he helped Wal-Mart form blended employee teams that represented the demographic make-up of the communities they served. Then again in leadership roles with other companies, came Dolanski's realization that greater education and experience for minorities and women could allow companies to tap a previously under utilized workforce. "When you have a diverse team around you, it attracts diversity and suddenly you begin to multiply the talent pool," Dolanski says. It's a formula that he's used time and time again to the advantage of individuals and companies throughout his career. Building leadership teams is a nuanced responsibility. In Aviall's white male-dominated industry, there is always the danger of "group think." Dolanski says, "You can create a competitive advantage in the aviation defense industry if you intentionally create a diverse workforce." And the desire to do so, introduced him to the Texas Diversity Council, for which he now sits on the board of directors. Building sustainable diversity is at the top of Dolanski's goals for Aviall. He believes diverse leadership teams must be free of political placement. "I want it to be earned because the way you break down barriers and have true inclusion is through respect," he says. Aviall's organic diversity and inclusion methodology includes a new mentoring program among the company's 1,400 employees, which pairs executives and senior level managers to people just starting their careers. Employee engagement surveys measure a variety of leadership characteristics, including diversity and inclusion, and showed a 9% improvement from 2011-2013. Recruitment of diverse talent took on an even higher priority in 2013, when Aviall set a goal to recruit 15% former military or disabled employees. The company's efforts earned it the National Guard Patriot Award, making it the first company in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to do so. In 2012, for his track record of balanced decision-making and appreciation for multiple perspectives, the ability to transcend narrow experiences and issues, value diverse points of view and find varied ways to approach issues and topics, Ed Dolanski earned the Texas Diversity Council's coveted DiversityFIRST Award. |
