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

Leaders who lack self-awareness do a lot of things that alienate their employees and then shake their heads and wonder why things got out of hand when the person leaves the organization. One of the key elements of inspirational leadership is to remember that you’re there to interact positively and make things easier for the people around you. The less challenges and obstacles your employees have, the better you’ll look and the less time you’ll spend trying to put the pieces back together. Here are ten ways that leaders lose employees:

1. Treat people uncourteously or disrespectfully.
2. Don’t recognize or put to use people’s talents and abilities.
3. Put people in jobs they hate and give them no opportunity to grow.
4. Don’t listen to people.
5. Inability or refusal to fix things when they go awry.
6. Regularly get into a conflicts.
7. Insist you’re right and they’re wrong.
8. Read the employee the policy handbook instead of working with them to resolve an issue.
9. Not knowing how to communicate effectively.
10. Lack of follow-through.

The secret to enlightened leadership is to do the opposite of these things. Treat people like they really matter and show them you care deeply about their well-being and growth and you’ll create a workplace where individuals feel important and work accordingly. If you currently do any of these things, think of ways to replace the behavior with one that leads in a more positive direction and you’ll be on your way to creating a more positive workplace. What will you do to keep your employees happily working for your organization?

Cheers,

Guy