I’m on a team, you’re on a team, we’re all on teams. In fact, I long for the days when I was just an individual contributor and could just hunker down and get stuff done. I now lead one team and facilitate another. I’ve been able to select some team members but mostly I’m just selected to be on a team.
The team I lead had two people roll off and that left me with vacancies. I remembered a training course I had a couple years ago where the instructor said that it was important to be mindful about selecting members. We were told that the most productive teams are ones where people come from different perspectives. In fact, when everyone is similar the results are quite meh. So, I began to think about my team. What backgrounds, skills and approaches were represented? What was missing?
That’s when I had my epiphany. It wasn’t just that 90% of the members had similar skills. That same 90% were about the same age, from the same background, the same gender and ethnic group. OMG!! That’s where being in the dominant group will get you. Blinded.
I immediately recruited two amazing folks to join our team who are different than the rest of us. I’m hoping our results will improve dramatically.
So, the next time you think, “Doing something about all these DEI demands is just too hard!”, think again. There are opportunities every day.
We can all do better when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. It’s not always easy, but the opportunities are there if we take the time to look for them. If you want some help getting started or need a refresher on what steps to take, contact us or check out our other blog posts on the topic. Our team is passionate about creating an inclusive workplace and would be happy to work with you.
