Diversity is more than quotas: racial, gender, age, or ethnic make up of a group. Diversity is more a matter of divergence in thought. It has the potential to broaden perspectives and enhance creative decision making. However, that potential is not realized as often as should be the case.
In the last post we talked about the power and benefits of diversity. But the truth is that many organizations never see these benefits. Instead, diversity leads them to in-group and out-group drama, miscommunication, stereotyping, conflict, and reduced performance. How can diverse people become a team unified for action? How can conflict become an asset that results in working solutions? Today we are going to share 4 strategies that can make diversity work.
1. Respect differences
Don’t pretend we’re all alike. Diversity is powerful precisely because we are different! Give people the chance to grapple with the differences. You can’t expect diverse people to react the same. Conversations among diverse people can get messy and create friction. Yet this friction can spark new thinking and move the organization forward.
Diversity fails when we withhold our opinions because of our differences and we dishonor ourselves when we are disrespectful to others. When diverse people come together to express opinions and solve issues, there is likely to be a measure of bumping heads. But if there is respect, you’ll be able to “battle” through your differences and come out on the other side with significant good solutions.
2. Forget “quotas,” hire for competency
Business people look for skills, capabilities, backgrounds, experiences related to their industry. Hiring incompetent people only based on their ethnicity, gender, age, and skin color is not helpful. You want the absolute best on your team. You want to belong to a team whose members are the absolute best. You want to feel good about the quality of all the teams in the matrix, and in the end the organization will be strong and effective.
However, demographics should be reviewed and culled constantly to ensure that diversity of thought truly exists. It is my personal opinion that every culture, belief, color, etc. brings something to add to the competency of the organization! Although we should hire and maintain only the best qualified and those with the best potential to be developed, we need to check our natural tendency to gravitate toward those who look like us, act like us, and think like us.
3. Seek common ground and purpose
In order for groups to develop any level of cohesiveness, there needs to be some common ground. Leaders need to see this challenge in their teams and act on it. Their task is to organize and point diverse thoughts and interests in a common direction to achieve an agreed upon or accepted objective or goal. Human tendency is to look at things through the various racial, ethnic or socio-political lenses we carry. The successful leader can organize the richness of diversity and ensure that it develops into the uniformity of purpose needed for success.
It takes discipline to park the ego at the door and remain open to hear, and even seek, other's thoughts and input. Encouraging open, respectful dialogue will help in harvesting the diverse thoughts into something useful.
4. Make talent discovery and retention a priority
Search for talent in new places. Investing in searching, finding, and developing new talent could help identify diverse leaders early. Look for diverse people in your company that have been overlooked. Offer high quality development programs and individualized executive coaching to your diverse talented people. This would ensure there would be a qualified pool of candidates when leadership positions become available.
Remember. . .
Leaders who develop a diverse workforce, who encourages diversity of thought, capitalize on the unique strengths and sensibilities of employees. Don’t cripple yourself and the organization by lack of diversity or by mishandling the power of diversity.
Bring diverse people together in a common purpose,
and you'll become invincible!
Photo by: OregonDOT