As demographics in the United States become increasingly diverse, forward-thinking boards are determining ways to achieve more diversity of background, experience and thought in the boardroom. Although private companies may face less public scrutiny than their publicly held counterparts do, private company stakeholders — including employees, suppliers and customers — continue to demand attention to diversity, equity and inclusion to address both reputational and cultural risk for the company and its workforce.

After a challenging 2020, most companies’ leadership and boards are immersed in and fully occupied with the near-term performance of the business. At one end of the spectrum, there’s no tomorrow if there’s no today, so coming to grips with the effect of the pandemic and making the necessary moves to survive and emerge strong is paramount. At the other end of the spectrum, some companies are dealing operationally with unprecedented demand for their products and services — a high-class problem, but nonetheless a challenge.

In the summer of 2020, Gallup polled Americans on their confidence in U.S. institutions and, unsurprisingly, the poll showed Americans lacked confidence in almost every one. Just 13% of those polled had a “great deal of confidence” or “quite a lot of confidence” in Congress, 40% in the Supreme Court, 18% in television news, 24% in newspapers and 32% in large technology companies.

I wonder how long we are going to refer to our present as “unprecedented” or “life-changing.”

Yes, those descriptions feel accurate, but what happens with the dust settles? How can we put the lessons we’ve learned into practice?

I think we already knew one of those lessons, even if many of us hadn’t had to face it for a while. Life is unpredictable. Everything can — and sometimes does — change on a dime.