I’ve consulted with organizations where leaders and employees are genuinely puzzled by diversity, there is a palpable sense of resistance or worry that this diversity thing will throw everything into chaos. Other organizations welcome diversity. So what’s the difference? Self-awareness. Companies that have self-aware employees and leaders tend to welcome new information and variety of approaches because they are comfortable with themselves and others.
The bottom line with diversity is that it’s not scary, it’s simply a way to use the diverse talents and experience of your employees. If we move away from thinking of diversity of something creepy we can use it to make ourselves and our organizations more successful. What if we thought of diversity in the following ways?
- Diversity will help us use all the talents of our staff.
- Diversity will help us reduce conflict.
- Diversity will help us work collaboratively.
- Diversity will help us create stronger teams.
- Diversity will help us compete more effectively.
Diversity is as effective as we make it. If we choose to see it as a nuisance or a threat we’ll get predictable results. If we view it as a tool then it can help us succeed. Self-aware leaders and employees appreciate diversity because it gives them more tools to work with and succeed, they see it as an asset rather than a threat. What will you do to increase the self-awareness in your workplace and view diversity positively?
Cheers,
Guy
