Are You Prepared to Lead a Diverse Team
This article was previously featured in Harvard Business Review.
Moments of crisis have a funny way of forcing our proverbial hand. They reveal what is (and isn’t) important, and they push us to solve old problems in new ways. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say.
That’s certainly true of the Covid-19 pandemic: The events of the past 18 months have shined a spotlight on deeply entrenched workplace inequalities, emboldening leaders to reexamine their organizations’ cultures with an eye toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). As the workplace becomes more global and diversity efforts pave the way for more inclusive environments, future leaders must meet the moment.
A part of this will involve learning how to navigate environments where shared cultural backgrounds aren’t a given. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the majority of the U.S. working-age population (those 18 to 64 years old) will identify as members of non-white racial and ethnic groups by 2039. Those with limited practice in leading people with different experiences, needs, and perspectives will have a steep hill to climb.
Developing Culture Competency
If you envision managerial roles in your future, now is the time to start developing cultural competence — defined as “the ability to understand, appreciate, and interact with people from cultures or belief systems different from one’s own.”
When a leader demonstrates cultural competence, they show respect for cultural differences and recognize how those differences drive engagement, productivity, and innovation on their team and throughout their organization. Developing this level of fluency isn’t easy, and there is no finish line. It’s a lifelong process of self-assessment and curiosity.
Having traveled my own path to strengthen cultural competency — and having guided many clients in doing the same — I know the twists and turns you may encounter on your journey. The building blocks upon which I lay my foundation are certainly unique to my experience and strengths, but there is a universal groundwork that all leaders can learn from. As with most complex, nuanced situations, it ends up being an eye for the details that really makes the difference.
Based on my experience, here are a few strategies to help you develop this skill.
1) Self-assessment for positive growth.
One of the most common pitfalls I see young managers facing is an inability to acknowledge their own biases and how those biases impact their perception of others. Accepting that we all have biases — unconscious or not — is a fundamental first step toward cultural competence in leadership development.
To create an inclusive work environment, you must first be comfortable recognizing situations in which your biases are most likely to negatively impact your decision-making or judgment. For instance, let’s say you’re evaluating candidates for a new position under your supervision. You might harbor a bias against a candidate who attended the rival school of you alma mater — I mean, who chooses to go to that school anyway, right? Even if this is something you typically joke or banter about superficially, you must be willing to acknowledge that it could (even if ever so slightly) sway your thinking about that candidate. To eliminate this bias, all it takes is a moment to check yourself and make the very conscious choice to not let it sway you. Simple, yes, but very important.
With all of this in mind, begin a critical reflection of your biases. Although some of them can be reversed, most are not that easy to recognize or shed. I often recommend young leaders take Project Implicit’s Implicit Association Test, which gauges attitudes and beliefs about different topics ranging from ethnicity to religion. Uncovering implicit bias via the Implicit Association Test will give you the knowledge and self-awareness needed for positive growth.
Pro tip: Commit to educating yourself on the different backgrounds of your teammates. People are a lot more comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work when managers show a sincere interest in who they are as people. Doing this work will help folks see that you value each of them and their unique contributions.
2) Practice active listening.
In a culturally diverse workplace, successful managers know how to interact with people who have different communication styles (verbal, nonverbal, written, or visual), approaches to problem-solving, and even methods of asking for help. How are they so tuned into their people? They practice active listening. As much as this is a core skill for all good managers, it is even more imperative when managing diverse teams.
The goal of active listening is to treat every conversation as an opportunity to understand another’s perspective — one of the key elements of cultural competency. When you interact with a colleague, take note of the context of the conversation and the tone of their voice as well as their body language and facial expressions. Give them ample time to finish their thoughts, and resist the urge to interject or interrupt.
Once your team member has said their piece, ask clarifying questions to reflect on their words, with the goal of understanding their meaning fully. Only offer your point of view when you are sure that you are both on the same page. Your colleague will likely be more open to your thoughts when you do speak up, and you will be able provide them with more valuable insights.
In a previous role, for instance, I had numerous conversations with a female colleague who I thought would make a great addition to my team. She was interested in the role, but also apprehensive. My gut wanted to jump into sales mode and tell her all the reasons she should join my team, how the role would put her on a great career trajectory, how talented and collaborative the team is, and how much our team needed her expertise. But because I wasn’t sure what was driving her concerns, I chose to pause and listen instead.
When I did, she shared that although she was excited about the opportunity, she felt uncomfortable being the only woman on my team. She had revealed an oversight of mine; I had completely missed that my team was all male.
I first thanked her for trusting me with her concerns, and I let her know she was both heard and understood. Then, I asked her to trust me again and help me address the issue by joining us. In return, I reassured her it would be the first of many steps toward making my team not only more diverse, but also more inclusive. Had I talked at her instead of listening to her, I wouldn’t have learned her true concerns, and my team would’ve missed out on having her perspective.
Pro tip: Diverse team members can bring a wide range of skills, experiences, and perspectives to the table when given a chance. By speaking last, as opposed to first, you help create a space where people feel comfortable voicing their opinions and communicating their needs — because they know you want to hear theirs voice and learn about their experiences. As a result, you’ll create a more psychologically safe space, an environment that encourages people to be open about the challenges they experience at work.
3) Ensure equity in retention and promotion.
We can’t talk about DEI without also addressing tokenism versus inclusion. Tokenism occurs when leaders hire a few people from marginalized groups to give the appearance of a diverse work environment. Inclusion is less about the number of minority employees and more about whether those employees have been given a fair opportunity to advance in the organization. Inclusion, of course, is the goal, yet teams continue to struggle when it comes to making meaningful DEI progress.
Hold yourself accountable to your DEI goals by tracking how promotions are awarded on your team and within the larger organization. Note any inequities, and then work explicitly on how to address them. For example, do all your high-potential team members have access to mentors? If not, consider your role in closing that gap. You can even consider your organization’s definition of “high potential.” Are there any inherent biases at play in your definition? If so, use your new position of power to initiate conversations around how you can eliminate those criteria and replace them with more culturally inclusive expectations.
Additionally, closely review how development opportunities (industry conferences, training, job shadowing, rotational opportunities, and so forth) are distributed across team members. Again, seek out implicit biases that could skew distribution.
Although it’s not a long-term metric, retention rates for diverse team members are a good measure of whether your organization truly values diversity and is willing to invest in creating a culturally inclusive environment. If you’re seeing high attrition rates with your diverse talent, it begs the question (if you’re willing to ask it): “To realize the innovation and inspire the engagement our company needs to thrive, do we truly understand that we need diverse perspectives, experience, and talent in the room?”
Finally, advocate for consequential accountability for all leaders. Quite simply, hold leaders — even if they are your seniors — accountable for behaviors and actions that demonstrate their commitment to DEI. Some companies even develop a DEI scorecard for leaders that not only includes indicators such as retention and promotion rates, but also captures behaviors such as cross-cultural mentoring, executive sponsorship of diversity initiatives (such as employee resource groups), or taking leadership roles in community organizations that serve diverse populations. While you may not have the authority to execute this alone, now that you are in “the room,” it is worth proposing to the stakeholders who do.
Pro tip: To support your argument, source the data: According to Gartner, organizations that enact consequential accountability will help their leadership benches attain gender parity 13 years earlier and racial equality six years earlier, respectively. As work increasingly crosses borders, cultural diversity in the workplace is inevitable. You must be able to motivate people from diverse backgrounds, and consequential accountability helps signal an expectation of cultural competency at all levels.
The past 18 months have been difficult beyond measure, but out of the challenges have emerged a renewed commitment to DEI. We must use this new wave of awareness to enact lasting systemic change, and we can start with ourselves. As you continue to build your cultural competence, look to the three tips above to guide your journey.