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Humanity is furious – mostly with itself. We’re intolerant of our power of diversity. We tell ourselves stories about one another based on our individual and collective suite of evidence-free biases. This is creating an angry, polarised world.
Organizations have an opportunity to harness the immense power inherent in our collective humanity.
The benefits of a high-trust, diverse team are vast. Employing people from disparate backgrounds introduces an assortment of perspectives that promote creativity and productivity.
But a diverse team isn’t necessarily a high-performing one. In fact, Harvard has shown that if diverse teams aren’t actively managed for inclusion, they can underperform homogenous ones.
For diverse teams to be effective, there needs an entrenched culture of trust. Trust bolsters teams through challenging times. The celebration of difference engenders a belief that there’s care for everyone’s personal success.
By contrast, a low-trust team constantly seeks evidence to prove why they can’t trust. Often individuals of the minority group are targeted. This is a totally pointless strategy, that, left unchecked, will ultimately drive the team into mediocrity.
People need to be comfortable with bringing their unique perspectives to the table. For that to happen, the environment needs to feel inclusive.
No amount of BBEEE legislation can make an individual believe they’re a valued member of a team. Neither do fancy, off-site team-building events with smooth-talking facilitators, or the obligatory Heritage Day wearing of traditional garb to the office.
Belongingness stems from seemingly insignificant daily actions that demonstrate tolerance and kindness – when no one is looking.
Very few organizations manage to shape a culture of genuine inclusivity where a person can unashamedly flourish as themselves.
Diverse teams bring an assortment of perspectives to the table.
Most companies naively follow mainstream labour laws, empowerment codes, HR practices, generic CSR programmes, and hopeful community outreach programmes – as a sole means of demonstrating care for their people.
Transformation of a heart and a mind takes place at an individual level. It requires genuine intent.
If you’d like to release the potential of diversity in your company, school, or organisation, we can help you do that in an authentic, amusing, and poignant way.
We’ll demonstrate the power of diversity where our human prejudice comes from and how, as individuals, we can find the best in our fellow human beings.
Our programme addresses diversity from four standpoints:
- the lived experience of a black medical professional,
- a real-life example of how diversity can work,
- human biology – why and how we are like we are,
- how everything begins with trust (a Harvard Business School model)
Contact us for a conversation about your specific needs.
