Embrace and celebrate difference

Diversity is an integral part of our lives. In fact, diversity lives under our roofs. Your spouse is from a family different from yours and was not raised in circumstances like yours. Your children may have your genes but each of them has his/her unique nuances or idiosyncrasies. Your sojourn in a community exposes you to people of different religions, races, tribes, and cultures that espouse world views and values different from what you embrace. Even in the unlikely event that everyone you relate with comes from your tribe or culture, they cannot all be members of your family, and if they were, none of them is your clone. The tapestry of human interactions is woven with the thread of diversity. When properly managed, the complexity of diversity should be an asset to any organization or group of people who, despite such glaring differences, have come together, much like the various parts of an orchestra or choir, or the black and white keys of a piano combining under the leadership of an accomplished conductor or dexterous piano player to produce a beautiful symphony!

Diversity is our reality, not our problem. The real challenge is learning to manage it in a way that harnesses its inherent advantages. Today’s piece is an extract from the chapter “LEADING DIVERSITY” in my latest book, “LEAD WITH COMMON SENSE”. To know how to get a copy, send me an email via [email protected].

There are ten things every leader must know in deploying an effective strategy for managing or leading diversity.

Prejudice is the blinder that prevents us from recognizing or appropriating the value inherent in others. Yet, very often, our prejudices are our default setting when relating to others. In doing so, we lose sight of the fact that value is a universal currency. No matter where they live or come from, all human beings respond favourably to identified solutions to their known problems. Nobody who is fighting for his life on a sick bed, cares about where the surgeon supervising the critical surgical intervention that would save his life comes from or what his religious persuasion is.  Value is resident in people, not in their religion or in the colour of their skin. The first question to ask in relating with any team member should be, “What do they bring to the table?” not “Where are they from?”

The beauty of the rainbow is in the diversity of its colors. No colour of the rainbow by itself can produce the beauty that the rainbow exudes. Do you appreciate music from an orchestra? An orchestra is a combination of sounds from various instruments to produce a discernible rhythm. Alone, each one of the component parts would have been a meaningless cacophony.

Everyone on the team brings a unique dimension of value to the collective. This is the reason why they were hired in the first place. No prospective employer tells a candidate at an interview that he will be employed on the basis of his weaknesses or the colour of his skin. We bring people on our team because of their skills, talents or other perceived contribution they have the potential of bringing with them to facilitate collective outcomes.

Diversity provides a leader the opportunity to learn about people, experiences, cultures, and perspectives different from what he is familiar with. In relating with others different from himself, the leader’s paradigms are challenged, and he can grow in ways that formal classroom instruction cannot make him. The Holy Bible teaches that anyone who thinks that he knows it all does not know as he ought to know.

Recognize and acknowledge diversity as a reality of the workplace. Ignoring or denying its existence does not make the challenges go away. No matter how long you defer dealing with them, the attendant issues will continue to surface. Every leader must come to terms with the fact that one team member is different from the other. In the uniqueness of its individual members lies the strength of a team.

While wisdom is the recognition of difference, honour is the way leaders celebrate difference. A leader must learn to affirm, honour, and reward the divergence on his team by making people comfortable with seeing the same situation or challenge from different lenses and perspectives. Just because an opinion is different or does not fit into a leader’s cultural or religious prism does not mean it is stupid or should be discarded.

Corporate vision is the compass of diversity management. Anyone leading a team must be guided by its overarching vision. And so must everyone on the team. Vision must be the anchor that holds the ship of the organization in place, preventing it from going adrift in troubled waters. The vision of the organization and its core values constitute its stabilizing factors. They must remain the focus of leadership.

As much as a leader needs to recognize and embrace diversity, he should never amplify it. Leaders who constantly talk about how they don’t care about people’s differences are actually betraying a consciousness of their biases and use such statements to prevent others from noticing those biases. But he doesn’t fool the discerning members of his team who find such statements condescending and at best patronizing. People know that they are different and hardly need to be reminded. They simply want a conducive environment to operate despite such differences and hardly need anyone to remind them of how different they are from others. People want to see acceptance demonstrated, not pontificated.

A leader must be deliberate about diversity through value harvesting and value appropriation. Whenever you lead a team, always look out for opportunities to identify, and harness the energies and value propositions in the room during your team’s brainstorming sessions. Sparks may sometimes fly but that is part of the bonding process. When people disagree on issues or strategy, as long as they keep the main thing (the vision) the main thing, everyone learns something, either about the people who are in dissent or the possibilities in the perspectives such dissenters bring to the issue under discourse.

Respect everyone on the team. Don’t come to work or a relationship with your blinder on. If you do, check it at the door. You may pick it up as soon as you step out of the environment of corporate function. Come to work determined to see the worth of every individual who collaborates with you. When people know that they are respected and their input valued for who they are, they usually put on their best game and deliver over-the-top performance. Any leader who desires respect from his team must understand that life is an echo chamber. It simply amplifies what you send out to others and delivers that amplified version to you as feedback or harvest. If you desire respect, give respect.

In closing, I am reminded of the words of essayist Aberjhani in his online collection of essays, “Splendid Literarium: A Treasury of Stories, Aphorisms, Poems, and Essays” where he wrote, “Diversity is an aspect of human existence that cannot be eradicated by terrorism or war or self-consuming hatred. It can only be conquered by recognizing and claiming the wealth of values it represents for all.”

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

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