In the last few days, I’ve been contemplating what we have come to call “diversity.”
In wealth management, one would hold a portfolio: stocks, bonds, real estate, etc., with the assumption that no one knows the future. Diversifying your assets across many different inputs serves as a catchall, a backstop, so you aren’t reliant on one asset.
In business, seeking “diversity” aims to achieve the same principle. We often get overly reliant on one set of opinions and forget how diverse opinions protect us. Having team members with different approaches, like cold calls versus relationship-building, allows for learning and growth. Balancing top-down management with organic, creative approaches enriches the organization. Diverse viewpoints on processes, hiring, marketing, and sales bring valid, valuable insights, creating a holistic business strategy.
Diverse Opinions in Business
When we seek “diversity” in business, we look to do the same thing as in wealth management. Sometimes we get overly reliant on one set of opinions, but we often forget about the ways “diverse opinions” protect us. If you have someone on your team who says the only way to make sales is to have 100s of cold calls per day, put someone on your team who might try to develop sales through the development of real relationships with 20 intentionally researched and thoughtful calls per day. Let that diversity of opinion play together, learn from each other, and mix in together.
Diversity Contradictory Methods as Strength
If you have someone on your team that is “top-down management,” also have someone at the table to discuss “organic, creative, management.” One might think these are contradictory approaches and a business has to decide which one to adopt. Yes, if a business has management, HR, or owners creating all the systems and processes, then the only diversity left is racial diversity or diversity of personalities, genders, etc. But we should look at it more holistically and consider where, how, and why individuals develop their thought processes.
Holistic Diversity for Better Decisions, Not Quotas
It benefits a business to consider everything from a diverse point of view—its processes, hiring, marketing decisions, and sales decisions (hard sell, soft sell, or both?). Different experiences bring different valid values to the table. We are foolish to look at diversity narrowly. We should consider race, ethnicity, age, etc., but also the diversity of thought and the origins of those thoughts. What experiences, personal and professional, are they steeped in?
What most businesses need, in my experience, is not to meet quotas but to make better decisions. The quotas met are in relation to the ongoing decisions made. There are two net benefits of seeing diversity in this way:
- Conflict and Respect: In a truly diverse environment, there is conflict, and we should agree to disagree without causing disrespect. Disrespect means “I’m done listening,” while disagreement means, “I’m grateful for the conversation in which both of us are heard.”
- Background for Better Decisions: When we have full-on diversity, we have a better background to make decisions.
If we seek truly diverse workplaces, we seek to understand diverse experiences that will best help direct us toward the mutual outcomes we seek as a unit, team, or business. If we create that, we have diversity, we have culture, we have ONENESS.
Conclusion
Embracing diversity in its fullest sense enriches our businesses and leads us to oneness. By valuing diverse opinions and backgrounds, we make better decisions and build a stronger, more cohesive team.
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