3 Steps to Navigate Cultural Diversity at Work and Build a Stronger Team!
🤔 Ever felt like "diversity" is sometimes just an employer branding buzzword?
😓 Reality is, leading a diverse team is not easy.
🤯 And more often than not, it feels more like navigating a minefield…
Here's some guidance on how to leverage the power of a diverse team without falling into stereotypes and miscommunications:
Step 1: Understanding that culture is complex!
Let‘s take my story:
🇫🇷 I'm French.
What communication style do you think I have? 🤔
What if I now add:
🇩🇪 I've been living in Germany for 16 years.
🇵🇹 I was born to Portuguese immigrants who lived a bloody dictatorship.
🇪🇸 I've also lived in Spain for a while…
👩❤️💋👩 Additionally, I'm a woman and I'm gay.
👩💻 And I've often been the only woman at the table.
Now, would you guess what communication style I have? 🧐
Or how to lead me?
Most probably not. Or you‘re again falling in further stereotypes… 🥐
Like telling your girlfriend she‘s hyper structured because she‘s German… 🥸
Culture is much more than just countries, languages and food.
It includes countless little things that shape a person's life. Things like family, values, job, education, experiences, successes, traumas, and even how we see colors - all play a part, and there‘s so much more…
We are all living examples of our own experiences.
We share the same world, but we each have our own perception of it, our own realities.
Remember „The Dress“ that blew up the internet? It is a great reminder that we all perceive the world differently - literally!
Cecilia Bleasdale’s dress: Did you know that 57% see blue and black, 30% white and gold, 11% blue and brown, and 2% as "other"?
Step 2: Start seeing the world through a new lens!
Let's be real, we've all been guilty of squinting at someone else's ways and thinking "that's... interesting…" (code for: "that's weird… 🧐").
More often than not, we either ignore differences, deny them, minimize them, or evaluate them negatively.
But what if we started to see these differences as strengths instead of weaknesses?
The secret weapon is appreciation.
It's about truly understanding that the way you do things is just that - the way you do things.
It's not the gold standard and it's not necessarily the best approach either.
So get out there, be open, curious, and eager to learn about those differences.
Look at your team members as individuals, and take the time to understand and appreciate their own realities.
Ask them about their experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives…
On leadership and authority, time management, communication patterns, modes of thinking, conflict management, boundaries...
This will not only help you understand them better, and them you, but also avoid intercultural miscommunications, and foster a more inclusive and understanding team dynamic.
Step 3: Cultivate that group genius!
Here’s when the real magic happens: when your team's cultural diversity stops being a potential conflict and starts being a source of inspiration.
By analyzing situations from different cultural perspectives, you will improve problem-solving and decision-making.
Embrace differences to achieve unity through diversity.
Let‘s not think it‘s easy though, it is a lot of work to bring a diverse group of individuals together and create an environment where everyone feels valued and heard.
But the results are worth it.
So encourage open discussions and sharing perspectives, and you'll see the real power of diversity as your team evolves not just as a collection of individuals, but a vibrant ecosystem of ideas.
Remember, diversity is more than a buzzword.
Embrace the culture within your team. Nurture it, learn from it, and use it.
It will take your team to places you never thought possible…
🔥
Actions for Today:
Analyze how your life story is shaping your perspective on a specific situation.
Have informal chats with your team members and ask about their experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives on various topics.
Analyze a specific situation from their cultural perspectives and see how it enriches your own.