“.. leading diverse teams, involves not only understanding the business imperative but also the moral imperative that values diversity.” Goleman
Globalisation, unequal distribution of talent and scarcity of skills all contribute to the growth of diversity. Therefore, managing diversity is critical for an organisation to innovate and adapt in a fast-changing environment. Successful leaders around the world agree that managing the mixture of experience, culture, gender, nationality, ability and age is essential to organisational growth. Diversity according to a 2012 Deloitte report is “a game changer”.
Managing diversity embraces respect for difference coupled with the ability to harness the opportunity that diverse skills, abilities and experience brings.
Some of the challenges in creating a culture of inclusion, consist of raising awareness around unconscious biases and unintended consequences of subtle discriminatory
language or behavioural norms embedded in teams and organisational cultures.
The practice of managing diversity include how to:
- Employ open and honest communication to build mutual trust, respect and accountability
- Raise awareness of individual beliefs, values and biases
- Apply empathy and rapport to build collaborative relationships
- Embody diversity by aligning words with actions
- Create a culture of inclusion & belonging
“Dolores, Thanks for such a year of learning & development… You played a critical role in helping us establish such important team values & the general team’s acceptance & understanding of the value of openness, honesty, & personal accountability in effective team dynamics.” John Playfair | BP Reliance Petroleum
