Many leaders and organizations that lack self-awareness find themselves struggling with diversity not because they don’t care about the subject but, rather, because they haven’t really talked about what it means to their company. For anyone looking for a way to start a frank dialogue I frequently recommend simply doing it. The following questions will help you start a conversation.
- What does diversity mean to us?
- How can diversity help our company?
- In what ways do we already celebrate diversity?
- How does diversity fit in with our company values?
- What can we do to bring everyone to the table?
- Is our company ready to include everyone at the table?
- How can we use diverse points of view to succeed?
Leaders who lack self-awareness sometimes hesitate about starting diversity initiatives because they haven’t noticed what a gold mine they are sitting on. When we harness the power of all our staff, our organizations become stronger and we can draw on a much larger pool of talents and ideas. The more we talk about how diversity can benefit our company the less we worry about it.
Focusing on using diversity as an asset is a fundamental shift that many companies use to their advantage, but it requires having the self-awareness to realize that work needs to be done. The people in these organizations likely all started by asking themselves questions about what diversity means to their company and how they can use it to become stronger.
What will you do to develop self-awareness and start a dialogue about diversity in your organization?
Cheers,
Guy