Courtesy / MICC
Liz Greason
Updated: April 28, 2022
How To
How to be more effective with your DEI efforts
By Liz Greason, Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants
We at Maine Intercultural do a lot of work in Maine around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
What many business leaders we work with find surprising is that the success or failure of their DEI efforts are often determined by their own mindsets and skill sets around navigating differences.
Do leaders see difference (diversity, of all types) as something to be leveraged, that can add value to the company? Or do they see difference as something to overcome, that gets in the way of “getting things done”? Or, something in between: do leaders recruit for diversity but then onboard for similarity, meaning that once a diverse hire joins a company, they are expected to focus only on similarity, to leave their valuable, diverse perspectives at the door? These diverse hires often end up leaving, chalked up to that individual “not being a good culture fit.” Sound familiar?
So what’s one thing that Maine business leaders can do to be more effective in their DEI efforts?
Consider their mindset.
Here are some tips to help that process along:
Pause and reflect
Consider: What perspectives or assumptions am I bringing to this interaction, situation, or moment? What blind spots might I have as the result of my experiences or the groups (generation, gender, race, national origin, etc.) I belong to? How might that be impacting my effectiveness leading across differences?
Seek out perspectives different from your own
In this increasingly virtual world, it is easier than ever to connect with diverse voices (of all types!) through podcasts, TED Talks, Twitter and, of course, there continue to be SO MANY good books. If you’re looking for a place to start, check out the resource page of our website www.maineintercultural.com.
Listen with curiosity and humility
Sometimes when we listen to someone with a perspective different from our own, we can get defensive — “But that’s not what I meant!” Let me share a gem that can take you far. “Intention does not equal impact.” No doubt you didn’t mean to do or say something that caused harm, but if someone tells you it was their experience...refer back to the earlier points. And know that it’s not about always getting it right, but instead learning how to make it right.
Is it for all people in the company to feel valued and engaged? To attract, retain and leverage the top talent, regardless of their cultural background? To increase the diversity of your staff? If so, we have a choice in our mindset: we can dig in: “I treat everyone the way I would want to be treated — they should feel welcome!” Or, we can return to the goal, and consider various ways to get there, that account for, and leverage, different perspectives and experience. As Maine Intercultural’s co-founder, Deb Breiting, recently said, “We know that 5 + 5 = 10, but how many more possibilities would there be if changed the question to: If 10 is the goal, what are the different ways to get there?”
It takes time, it takes slowing down, it takes a shift of mindset from “Do I want to be right?” to “Do I want to be effective?”
But what we at Maine Intercultural know for sure is that Maine’s business leaders can do this.
Liz Greason is the co-founder of Maine Intercultural Communication Consultants. She can be reached at liz@maineintercultural.com.
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