From Global to Local: Building Team and Leadership Diversity Awareness
While global diversity awareness is important, it is also important to translate that awareness into concrete action. Diversity and Inclusion is an important set of principles and skills – it is also an important category of training for your team. Here are sample topics:
- Generational Differences
- Diversity in Hiring Practices
- Unconscious Bias
- Workplace Culture
- Cultural Differences
- Discrimination Laws and Preventative Approaches
Pryor Learning offers more than thirty learning modules on these topics, with real-time practical tips for demonstrating Diversity and Inclusion skills on the job. Start with the half-day workshop Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace or bring the training Understanding and Developing Cultural Diversity into your own organization. If you are team lead or manager, consider the seminar How to Manage Diversity in the Workplace.
These courses can help you avoid right/wrong thinking and invite multiple perspectives; actively identify ways to connect with people from diverse backgrounds; understand how actions can lead to discrimination claims – and avoid them; and identify ways you can challenge yourself and your team when you see yourself or others they judge people based on their characteristics. Awareness goes a long way toward change.
Diversity and Inclusion topics highlight organizational and institutional needs and action plans; and heighten personal self-awareness and interactions. This wide range of applicability makes it essential for your personal leadership development plan.
Connecting with Others
Turns out, the globe is a big place, and thinking about global diversity awareness can be a little overwhelming at an individual level. So, let’s think about what you, and other employees in your organization, might do to quietly celebrate this month – at the level of the conversation.
Follows are tips for active communication that maximize our use of the benefits of diversity:
- Avoid interrupting people or moving the conversation too fast. Some people and cultures value efficiency in communication – getting to the bottom line fast. Others prefer a slower pace, where building the relationship is as or more important than reaching a conclusion in any given conversation. Part of respecting diversity is recognizing that others may prefer a different pace from you.
- Give your full attention and avoid distractions. In some cultures, having your phone with you during a meeting may be acceptable – after all, we are moving at the pace of business. However, other people and cultures consider this downright rude, and may not fully engage in deep content for fear of being interrupted.
- Listen and watch for the full picture, not just facts and answers. Most conversations are filled with body language, subtle expressions of feelings and unspoken assumptions. Listen beyond the facts to the underlying context. This helps you learn what is truly most important to the other person and builds your respect for their individuality. While easier in person, you can notice nuance in virtual conversations as well.
- Find the other person’s unique knowledge and perspective that shapes their thinking. Past experiences shape how we view current problems. Part of respecting diversity, and maximizing its benefits, is listening for the history that informs a person’s current thinking. What do they know that you do not know, and what might it offer the situation?
Want to continue to deepen these types of listening and communication skills? Pryor’s seminars on Communicating with Tact and Professionalism and Developing Emotional Intelligence are a great start. We also have a full video series with tips on better communication, including conflict management and active listening.
Despite the complexities of diversity in the workplace, we all have the power to shape individual conversations. We show respect for diversity by showing respect for other people, and we most often do that through thoughtful and active listening and dialogue.