#Beingaleader means you need to encourage diversity. Within your team. Within your life. Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote on the topic of “Different Than Me” (https://beingaleader.blog/2019/07/09/different-than-me/) where I focused on the types of advantages that can be had with the inclusion of those who think differently than me. It was not specifically about racial diversity so today I wanted to get back to that topic.
In today’s blog, I am focused primarily on racial diversity. Everywhere we look today this is a topic that is broached and argued over and I would like to stay within our leadership realm and not get into politics or current events discussions. The strength of our teams is based upon the different strengths we each bring to the table. And those different strengths often come from our diverse racial background.
One question you have to ask is whether you naturally seek out diversity. The answer could be different for everyone but I think I can go out on a limb and say that we all naturally congregate with people we think we relate to and understand. I say “we think” because we all have examples where that is actually not the case. Instead, diversity has to be intentional in most of our lives and on our teams. And the leader sets the tone for the team. If the leader makes it important enough it can become part of the team’s overall culture and identity.
The one argument I have heard many times is that “we only want the best people on our teams”. And, by inference, we mean to say that that is only found within our current circles and that bringing in diversity, by definition, brings in someone less than ourselves. While demonstrably untrue, it is a powerful thought and needs to be dealt with head on. A better approach to this question might be: what are we losing by not having diversity? What ideas and experiences and strengths are we losing or not gaining access to? What strengths can be brought to the table that I would naturally totally overlook? If we focus on what we are gaining, we take the focus off the perceived negativity and instead grow and improve our teams.
#Beingaleader means we need to be intentional about diversity in our teams and in our lives.
Being A Leader 