Meet Asif sadiq MBE

Asif Sadiq: Why Diversity Is An Opportunity To Embrace

On Monday, adidas Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion Asif Sadiq MBE joins keynote speakers including broadcaster June Sarpong, MP Liz Truss, 30% Club founder Helen Morrissey DBE, Deloitte UK Dimple Agarwal and CMI CEO Ann Francke OBE at the annual Moving Ahead Gender Balance Summit.

Ahead of what should be an inspiring, informative and thought provoking day,  we look at Sadiq’s somewhat unconventional career path that took from being a police officer to a leadership role at one of the world’s most famous brands...

When asked why he decided to become a police officer, Asif Sadiq simply explained, ‘I wanted to make a difference.” Working out of Wood Street Police Station, EC2, he would become its Head of the Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Unit. This would lead Sadiq into working with a variety of police units including  Counter-Terrorism, Economic Crime, CID and Community Policing. Sadiq spent 10 years with the City of London Police - he retains the title Special Sergeant - and witnessed first hand the challenges of trying to make the force more diverse but also the practical benefits of diversity when it came to fighting crime. Officers from different backgrounds and cultures would be better equipped to deal with incidents that happened in certain communities.

During his time in the force, Sadiq also worked with a number of voluntary organisations including the Khadeejah Welfare Foundation, a charity set up in 2013 to support vulnerable victims of domestic violence and abuse, particularly within the Muslim community. Sadiq also joined the board member at Mosaic, which creates opportunities for young people of all backgrounds growing up in the UK’s most deprived communities. His achievements were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list with an MBE for services to Policing and the Communities.

WIDER FOCUS

In 2016, he decided to move from public to private sector and joined EY as its Head of Diversity & Inclusion in Financial Services. Indeed, he says that one of his personal highlights has been navigating his career through different sectors. During his time at EY, he was asked to define what Diversity and Inclusion actually means. Sadiq explained, “diversity is really about understanding the differences between people, and inclusion is about making those differences work.

“Having diverse leadership teams generates more businesses because you’re coming up with new and innovative ideas. But something that gets missed is the whole notion around recruitment, retention and progression. So having inclusion means people stay longer and progress within an organisation, which has a commercial benefit. It’s not just about the diversity of how people look but also the thought processes that people from different backgrounds bring with them.”

Sadiq would then go on to become Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at The Telegraph Media Group in 2018, before taking up his current role at adidas in April of last year. The Telegraph consistently banged the drum for Brexit and, given that Monday’s panel also includes International Trade Minister Liz Truss, it will be interesting to see if there are any takes on diversity and Brexit.

Sadiq has adopted the view that it should be seen as an opportunity for greater diversity within a company’s hierarchy. He says that diversity within your leadership teams is essential if you’re going to rise to the challenge of a post-Covid economy and engage with new and emerging markets beyond Europe. In an interview with BPS, he added that “Brexit will mean that businesses will have to invest more in supporting local diverse talent, whether that’s through apprenticeships or other training programmes.” However, he issued one note of caution and said, “Without doubt, the biggest challenge Brexit presents is discrimination in the workplace. I think it may change our views of inclusion and what it is. I just hope that the perception is not that everyone has to fit in and be the same as the majority.”

One of the biggest challenges that revolves around diversity is one of perception. Take the BLM movement for example, which is fundamentally about equality and equal opportunities. As Sadiq observes, diversity is not some sort of 'Robin Hood situation’ in which we take from one group and give to another. It is about supporting groups who have been marginalised and haven’t always had a voice or a seat at the table.

Indeed, in a recent blog he wrote for adidas titled, What Business Leaders Can Do To Promote Diversity And Inclusion In The Workplace, Sadiq concluded with a quote that he often uses when discussing D&I. “Remember diversity is not a problem we are trying to solve but an opportunity we are trying to embrace.”