Tag Inclusion

Leading People Who are Different Than You

Steve Keating 1 Comment

All leaders, ineffective and effective leaders alike, have the same two problems. Problem might not be the right word but they all have the same challenge. The first challenge is that they are human. The second challenge is that the people they lead are human too. 

Humans don’t automatically like all other humans. We somehow find it easier to connect with people we like. We tend to stay closer to them. We talk more with people we like than people we don’t. I’m no psychologist but it seems to me we are more drawn to people who look like us, act like us, who have the same backgrounds and the same beliefs. While that may be normal it seldom helps us grow and develop. 

We need the diversity of backgrounds, beliefs and life experiences to broaden our thinking and open ourselves up to new opportunities. Leaders who hope to excel need that same broadening of their thinking. It is particularly important for leaders to embrace that diversity. Leaders must care for their people before they can effectively lead them. If you’re a leader who doesn’t truly know and value the people you are supposed to lead then it will be almost impossible for you to lead them. 

If leaders aren’t careful and intentional about how and where they invest their time they will naturally invest a disproportionate amount of their time with those members of their organization that they are most like.

But Authentic Leaders understand that it is their responsibility to lead and develop their entire team, not only the teams members they like the most and not only the team members who are most like them. 

Authentic Leaders are aware of their biases, both conscious and unconscious. They put processes in place to make certain those biases don’t get in the way of developing their people. Any of their people. 

They schedule time with every member of their team. That time includes discussions about work but also about the person. They ask questions to understand the entire person. They want to know about the person’s goals and what help they could use to achieve them. 

As a leader it is incumbent upon you to make judgments about your people. It is also important that you do that in a non-judgmental way. You can do neither of those unless you get rid of any biases you may have and the only way to rid yourself of those biases is to know and understand the person. 

I have been personally challenged in my life to overcome some of those biases. Years ago our daughter brought her new boy friend over for dinner. I’m almost embarrassed to say I was shocked by his appearance the moment he walked in the door. I had all the doubts that a parent would have. I questioned how we raised her and where we went off track. I wondered what our family and friends would say if they ever met him. 

But I’m kinda proud to say I pushed myself to expand my thinking. We had a good conversation, a nice dinner and even played a few games after. As different as he looked when he walked in the door I barely even noticed the Green Bay Packers jersey as he left. 

You may find that funny but it’s a realistic example of how unfounded biases can impact how we deal with people if we’re not careful. As a leader you are the example of successful behavior for ALL your people. If you want more open communication, better sharing of ideas, increased sharing of best practices, and more overall collaboration then you need demonstrate the value of diversity within your organization. You can talk about the value of diversity all you want but your people will do what you do far faster than they will do what you say. 

Leading people who are different than you can be very challenging. It can also be incredibly rewarding. It’s all in how you look at it. I hope you focus on the rewards rather than the challenges. 

People Were People Before They Were Your People

Steve Keating 6 Comments

So this is a post that will likely cause me some trouble with the politically correct crowd. That’s because I’m going to rip on, just a little, all the new fancy titles we now see. Chief Inclusion Officer is one that comes to mind. Except some companies have decided “chief” is now offensive so they can’t use that title anymore. 

Companies seem to be in a rush to add titles with the words diversity, inclusion, equality and the like. There are so many “buzz word” titles floating around that I couldn’t possible mention them all. These companies are trying to prove that everyone in their organization is valuable. Which is a worthy thing to do. But I have a question.

Instead of endowing people with fancy titles that say “we care” how about actually caring? How about showing you care for everyone equally instead of saying it again and again?

I have tremendous faith in people’s ability to figure out if the place they work gives a damn about them. Somebody in the company with a progressive sounding job title isn’t going to fool them. 

Which brings me to more traditional sounding titles and departments. Like Human Resources. Or maybe a little more modern sounding Human Asset Management Department. Or my personal least favorite, Human Capital Resource Group. 

The problem with departments or groups with those names is it sets up the mindset that people should be managed like any other piece of capital or asset. I had the unhappy experience about 18 months ago of sitting next to a consultant during a dinner. We struck up a conversation about how their consultancy advises their clients. 

He said that when they recommend downsizing they look at job titles, work responsibilities, cost of “asset,” and how much longer the asset would be of value. They do not recommend the termination of anyone by name, that makes it too personal and may cause the management of the client company to hesitate. 

It’s sort of the same thought process as when a farmer won’t name a pig or a cow that they intend to eat one day. 

The consultant doesn’t really care how a client company thinks of their people, so long as they don’t think of them as people. They are merely assets or capital like a copier or computer. You pay them and you own them. 

But here’s the thing. They ARE people. They have always been people. They will always be people. You may pay them but you don’t own them. 

Businesses that forget that their primary business is the people business will not last. It makes no difference what you see or what you make, you are in the people business. Your people were people long before they were your people. 

It is beyond foolish for you as a leader to expect your people to care for your business or it’s customers when the best you can do is give someone in the company a new-age title that shows how progressive your organization is. People don’t care how progressive the company is when the people running the company don’t demonstrate that the company cares about them. 

When the company shows they care about their people, all their people, equally, they don’t need fancy titles. If the company fails to show they care about their people no amount of fancy titles will convince them otherwise. 

Inclusion, honoring diversity, and treating everyone equally won’t come from titles or committees, it comes from an Authentic Leader demonstrating those values on a daily basis.