October 14, 2020

1 Leadership Thought

Our relationships with other people get messy. The traditional solution to this for the workplace has been to keep your personal life and feelings away from your job. The problem is that you can’t just check a part of your identity at the door.

So how do we manage professional boundaries while avoiding inauthenticity? Here’s the number 1 thing to consider—you won’t worry about what’s okay and what’s not okay if you have created a culture of equity in your workplace. (Share this on Twitter)

So what does equity mean? It’s not equality—that means everyone has the same access to those opportunities. Equity in the workplace means that there’s proportional representation in all of the opportunities and leadership positions across the organization. (Share this on Twitter)

Here’s what you gain with a workplace culture of equity:

  • Open atmosphere for communication

  • Make faster and better decisions

  • More empowering work environment for your team

When you have equity in your workplace, you won’t have to hide certain parts of your identity and life. You’ll actually be able to understand your teammate’s situation and context better. In turn, that will only increase trust and rapport with your team and make better decisions to accelerate together towards your team’s goals.

So how does one get started towards creating a culture of equity in their workplace? Two places to start are inclusion in meetings and hiring for contribution, not fit:

  • Inclusion in meetings: Every organization has two types of meetings: debate and decision-making. In debate meetings, people come together to brainstorm and work towards agreement on a direction for an initiative or project. Decision-making meetings are where action items are assigned after a direction has been agreed upon. Every organization can be more inclusive in your debate meetings—you gain more perspectives and insights, and you’ll make better decisions for everyone in your decision-making meetings.

  • Hiring for contribution, not fit: Too often, we hire people to fit a certain culture. This can perpetuate biases that make it easier for a certain “profile” of person to thrive than others. Essentially, it’s hiring for conformity because you don’t want to rock the boat. Instead, when you hire people to contribute to the culture, you’ll intentionally seek out diverse opinions, experiences, and expertise that will sharpen your culture and take your team to the next level.

In summary, you need a culture of equity in your workplace to have better communication, better decisions, and a better work experience. Start cultivating that culture by being more inclusive in meetings and hiring for contribution instead of fit.

1 Resource

Francesca Gino on workplace diversity and equity:

“That our decisions get sidetracked by biases is now well established. While it is hard to change how our brains are wired, it’s possible to change the context of decisions by architecting the composition of decision-making teams for more diverse perspectives.”

Source: Forbes Council Post: The Benefits of Creating a Diverse Workforce

1 Question

Think of a time you didn't belong or when you felt like you had to cover part of your identity. How can that lead you to empathize with others? (Share this on Twitter)