I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Dettman.

Avenica CEO Scott Dettman is a dynamic leader with a strong track record of driving growth through transformation and innovation in the human capital arena. Scott joined Avenica in 2019 following a six-year stint with ManpowerGroup that included progressive leadership roles spanning analytics and transformation to general management and business development. Scott has a master’s degree and Ph.D. (ABD) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and completed an Executive Leadership program at Harvard Business School.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

I grew up in a very blue-collar neighborhood. My parents were both first-generation college graduates. Without a professional network, they struggled to find work that aligned with their education.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I read “The Goal” by Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox for the first time about eight years ago. It really helped me understand the importance of challenging conventional thinking, whether in business processes, strategy or family or relationship obligations. The key is to seek a simplified objective and then apply principles of the scientific method to glean insight and new perspectives. In my first experience holding a general management role, I applied lessons from “The Goal” to look beyond the standard metrics and explanations to really engage in the action of the business and to observe processes in order to make improvements.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” — Nietzsche

In business and in life, the pain that we endure varies from manageable to excruciating, but I have found that my perception of that pain has more to do with the context within which I am experiencing it and less to do with the pain itself.

For example, as new parents quickly discover, complete dedication and at least relative function is attainable despite existing in an environment characterized by sleep deprivation, constant disruption and often heightened emotion. Despite its challenges, millions of people become parents and many of those millions have children multiple times. They do this because of the immediate and overwhelming feeling of love and responsibility that comes with parenthood.

As a proud father to four amazing children, nothing quite compares to parenthood, but I aim to create a similar context in the work that I do. If I can create a feeling of intense responsibility for the success or failure of a company or a population of students seeking a meaningful connection to a career, there is no challenge or set of circumstances capable of stopping me.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

I view leadership not as a designation or destination but rather as a daily commitment to a way of living. I succeed and fail in leadership every day, but I never stop pursuing leadership in all that I do. Leadership doesn’t mean having all the answers, doing all the talking or even being known. Rather, I believe leadership to be a deeply-held belief in human potential and its power to improve lives, build great things and move humanity forward. An example of my view of leadership in action is from my former coach, Jeff Trickey. Coach Trickey wanted to win and worked tirelessly to put his teams in the best position possible to do so, but even more important to him was that he impacted his athletes as human beings. Whether you saw him every day or he made only a periodic appearance in your life, Coach Trickey gave 100% of himself in every interaction to ensure he impacted you in a positive way.

In my work, I often talk about how to release and relieve stress. As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?

I think a bit differently about stress. Instead of viewing stress as some sort of negative energy that needs to be reduced, I see it simply as energy that can be harnessed for good. For example, if I feel nervousness before an important meeting or speech, I focus on transforming that energy into excitement or passion around the topic I am discussing. Many people spend a great deal of energy trying to maintain stability, but life’s best moments don’t come during times of ease and tranquility; they usually arrive with chaos and great energy. I simply choose to embrace that energy and chaos as necessary to the achievement of anything meaningful.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. The United States is currently facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality and inclusion. This is of course a huge topic. But briefly, can you share your view on how this crisis inexorably evolved to the boiling point that it’s at now?

Until recently, diversity, equity and inclusion were conceptual for most people. In the abstract, it is easy to talk about embracing diversity and equity and pursuing inclusion, but nothing changes in the abstract. Change, or more importantly, growth, occurs only through some form of disruption or discomfort and often manifests in extremes. This country has a race problem, this country has an equality problem and this country tends toward exclusivity instead of inclusivity. To begin to heal, to begin to grow, we must first embrace the pain that is required to move forward. I believe when we reflect on this moment in history, we will identify this time as the catalyst that transformed abstract concepts into meaningful action.

Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience working with initiatives to promote Diversity and Inclusion? Can you share a story with us?

Diversity and inclusion have always been core to how I approach building a successful team or organization. One of the methods I have used for years is to identify five key themes or concepts within the team that have the potential to become contentious. I then ensure to hire people that will be on opposing sides of these issues. By selecting five issues, you almost guarantee that every member of the team will both agree with others on a topic as well as disagree. This approach not only ensures good honest debate, it also fosters shifting coalitions based on the topic at hand which ultimately leads to a better team.

One thing we know is there isn’t enough diversity and equity in just about every level of business, from the entry-level to executive leadership. Being in an industry so heavily focused on workforce development and hiring, we are uniquely positioned and feel an obligation to help solve this problem. At Avenica, we’ve developed partnerships with TheDream.US, the nation’s largest college access and success program for DREAMers (undocumented immigrant youth) and national need-based scholarship programs to help create equity in access to career opportunities. Our goal is to level the playing field for candidates from all backgrounds by providing access to career coaching and mentorship, high-impact training and upskilling programs and a network of employers.

This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?

Diversity at the top is crucial to promoting and ensuring diversity at all levels. Organizations often mirror the make-up of their executive teams, so being mindful about who is on the executive team, along with what perspective they bring is incredibly important.

Ok. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you please share your “5 Steps We Must Take To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, and Equitable Society”. Kindly share a story or example for each.

  1. Political Equality. Without equal access to impact and influence, matters of public policy in our system will remain unbalanced due to the imbalance in power.
  2. Create opportunities for exposure to people of different races, backgrounds and beliefs. The more we can facilitate peaceful interactions between heterogeneous groups, the more chances members of those groups have to learn about each other and from one another.
  3. Understand bias. As a well-documented stats nerd, I would be remiss not to mention that bias is and will likely always be present. Therefore, we must all seek to understand our biases and make corrections where necessary. To assume that we can destroy bias in all things is foolish, but we can better understand it to counteract its influence.
  4. Create pathways, not pots of gold. In society, we tend to react to problems with a need to create specific solutions. I believe we need to focus on pathways and means to connect points as opposed to trying to find one thing that solves everything. Let’s be willing to try a million different paths to get to a better, more inclusive society.
  5. Place value on facts and not on hype. Too many debates or viewpoints in our society are informed by half-truths or distortions of fact that fit a specific agenda. We need to find our way back to objective truth if we hope to advance as a society.

We are going through a rough period now. Are you optimistic that this issue can eventually be resolved? Can you explain?

I am always optimistic about the promise of the future. That said, I don’t believe that we will ever, or should ever, exist in a world where topics of diversity, equity and inclusion are “resolved.” To resolve topics such as these would in effect mean that we no longer need to be conscious of them. My hope and belief is that we will become more diverse, more tolerant and better and more successful as a society as a result.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I would love to have lunch with Reed Hastings (CEO and Co-Founder of Netflix). I have always been impressed by the Netflix business model and its path to growth. From its roots as a DVD subscription service to the prominent name it created for itself in the content streaming and content creation spaces, Netflix has gone on a journey that required innovative foresight but also pure operational rigor discipline. Because I’ve heard Reed Hastings is also passionate about education, I would also love to pick his brain and get his thoughts about what we are trying to do at Avenica.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me through my LinkedIn page. Additionally, you can keep up with the work our team is doing by visiting Avenica.com.