Chris Powell hopes to see a larger Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic population in coaching and management in years to come.
The former England left-back, who played across the divisions during his 24-year career, was encouraged to move into coaching towards the end of his playing days by former boss Nigel Pearson when the pair were at Leicester.
Former Addick Powell went on to win the League One title as Charlton boss in 2012 and had a spell as manager of Huddersfield, before reuniting with Pearson and working as his assistant at Derby.
There were just two BAME managers across the leagues at the start of this season - Chris Hughton and Keith Curle - and Powell wants to see more going forward.
"Is there enough black managers? No, but you want the candidates to be there, you want the interview structure to be right," he says in episode 28 of Sky Sports' My Icon series.
"You want people to just get the chance to express themselves, then it's up to you to portray yourself as the best man or women for the job, regardless of colour. You want black, Asian and ethnic minorities to feel comfortable in showing their skills, and their qualities.
"No one ever wants tokenism, like you have to tick a box.
"You want people that are worthy of the job and have the attributes and characteristics to be the right person in whatever field it is.
"I came through not because of the colour of my skin - I'm black anyway. I just want people to feel more comfortable so that they can portray themselves as themselves and then go on from there."
Powell talks about his journey in the latest instalment of My Icon, which premieres on Friday at 7am on Sky Sports Mix and is available On Demand. The episode is repeated on Friday at 1pm, 2.30pm and 10pm.
Coinciding with Black History Month, Sky Sports' #MyIcon campaign brings you 31 exclusive interviews with top BAME sports personalities across the month of October. For more information click here.