TRUTH 5 Don’t surround yourself with yourself

In our personal lives, a look around shows that we generally tend to surround ourselves with people of like interests and perspectives.

This paradigm doesn’t work at a changing workplace.

As the world seemingly shrinks, with markets and products extending their global reach, it’s becoming more the rule than the exception for managers to have teams composed of men and women with a range of multinational educational, ethical, business, and life experiences. In fact, many of us work in larger organizations or ones that may be contractors or suppliers to the U.S. government that are legally required to be in compliance with affirmative action guidelines that encourage this “mix.”

Unfortunately, some managers confuse the terms affirmative action and workforce diversity, and while they’re conceptually related, you shouldn’t use them interchangeably.

Affirmative action is about comparing your workforce to the local population in terms of its representation of various factors such as gender and ethnicity. Its goal is to have your workforce appear as a statistical mirror and for you to explain and justify where and why it isn’t. Its primary tool is a calculator.

Diversity is about mutual human understanding, appreciation of differences, and the extension of empathy. It’s about inclusion, not exclusion. It’s about the way we treat each other and interact. It’s based on respect and dignity, not numbers. It welcomes fresh perspectives, and it encourages and empowers all employees to actively contribute to the overall success of the organization. Its primary tool is an open mind.

While some may view affirmative action as a chore, diversity should be embraced as an organizational imperative. To do so, you must seek out and blend the passions, commitments, and hearts and minds of each of your team members—cultivating and creating collective inspiration.

This is easier said than done.

Many organizations fail to take diversity seriously as a business challenge—offering merely lip service or a passive day’s training to the topic when it’s a real, embedded, and ongoing problem to be managed at all levels. Not only is it the right thing to do, but also evidence shows that it’s a key for competitive advantage.

First, diversity enhances team performance. This was validated in a study that found medical scientists performed especially well when they maintained ongoing work relationships with colleagues having a wide assortment of values, experiences, and disciplines. In fact, this study found that constant close association with colleagues similar to themselves decreased their performance.

Second, diversity leads to better problem-solving and decision making. This was reported in a study when mixed-gender groups consistently produced better-quality solutions than did all-male groups. The statistically significant findings included the fact that no all-male group ever scored higher than a mixed-gender group. Similarly, another study noted that ethnically diverse groups were more efficient, over time, in identifying problems and generating possible solutions.

Third, diversity is better for your bottom line. This was concluded in a study conducted by Cedric Herring, Ph.D., professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He found that “Racial diversity in a company’s workforce leads to improved business performance.” Specifically, Herring noted that, “Businesses with greater diversity reported higher sales revenues, more customers, larger market shares, and greater relative profits compared to firms with a more homogeneous makeup.”

We are all travelers on a common organizational and life path. Seek out and welcome diverse perspectives and backgrounds, be cognizant of individual perspectives and grounding, and leverage the strengths and differences of each person so that balance and synergy might be achieved. After all, if the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, and Dorothy—folks with diverse demographics and interests who bonded around a common cause and overcame numerous obstacles on the yellow brick road—could come together as a team, why can’t you?