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Networking

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Effective Management Employee Engagement Human Resources Teamwork

Is Your Understanding of Diversity All Wrong?

Do you know the true value of diversity?

Lately I have been consumed with recruiting. I recently hired staff positions at one of my organizations, where I’m also currently looking for new Board Members. I also just finished the process of recruiting committee members and advisors for my other organization. Lastly, I am consulting with a government group looking to recruit members for a very exciting youth council. So lately I have been living and breathing recruitment, which is par for the course when you specialize in talent development. To be honest, I actually kind of like recruiting, especially when it’s for the assortment of levels, positions, skill sets, and experience that I normally work with on a regular basis. But more than the recruiting, I really like maximizing the skills and potential that new people bring to their new roles. The unique viewpoints, backgrounds, strengths, and ideas really excite me. I am a true believer in a strengths based approach to teamwork, which means working with people with wide reaching skills and knowledge that have little overlap and letting the people work primarily within their strengths, while keeping them away from their areas of weakness. As an example, is I have an Economic Development Officer (EDO) who is an amazing relationship builder and an innovative problem solver, but lacks administrative organizational skills. So I let my EDO focus on his strengths and we share the more administrative tasks within his team to someone who has great skills and leadership with organizational tasks. Why hold them back from the things they do well? The other piece of maximizing skills and potential that I am a true believer in is discourse. Maybe it is the academic in me, but I adamantly believe that divergent views and lively debate are essential to true progress and innovation. Impactful discourse can only come from diversity… but this may not be the diversity most people think of.

Diversity of Perspective

Now, I don’t want to lose anyone by talking about diversity. I know there are strong opinions when the term is uttered. While some people get on their soapbox to shout their thoughts about political correctness, others feel that only people who are a part of underrepresented groups have the right to speak about diversity. These are just a few examples. But, I want to be very clear right at the start, the value of recruiting for diversity has nothing to do with political correctness. I’m not talking about, or even remotely supporting tokenism (the practice of doing something, such as hiring a person who belongs to a minority group, only to prevent criticism and give the appearance that people are being treated fairly.) In fact, I’m kind of disgusted by the lack of respect and the lack general decency that tokenism invokes. What I’m saying is that the true value in hiring for diversity is gaining the diversity of perspective.

As I mentioned earlier, two important elements of maximizing the skills and the potential of groups, organizations, or individuals are a strengths based approach and discourse. These elements can only exist in a team when there is a dynamic of diversity of perspective; new viewpoints to share, unique experiences to pull from, different struggles that have been conquered, and distinctive approaches to common issues, just to name a few. If this diversity of perspective does not exist then all efforts for development and innovation are doomed to fail or at best, be mildly impactful.

We don’t need Ambassadors

When most people think of diversity, they think of a group of people whose members represent different cultures, races, languages, sexual orientation, gender, class, and abilities. These are some of the different backgrounds that create the common understanding of diversity. The problem with thinking of diversity as a form of representation is that even the most well meaning efforts become tokenistic in their desire to have all backgrounds visibility represented.

The true value of diversity is the range of perspectives that it allows. The differences of culture, race, language, sexual orientation, gender, class, and ability inherently give people individual experiences that build the uniqueness of their perspectives. At the same time, each person is allowed be an individual and not an “ambassador” for their particular minority group. We want the whole person to be involved and engaged. Their background will form their perspective, not define it.

The Dull Grey of the Homogenous Perspective

Without the commitment to recruiting diversity of perspective we run the risk of putting a lot of work into something that is only valued by a particular segment of the population we are trying to inspire, sell to, develop, or whatever. We all like to surround ourselves with like minded people, but we need to be careful and consider why they are likeminded. Are they likeminded in goals and vision? Appreciation of progress and challenge? Or because we have the same background and perspectives?

Recruiting for diversity of perspective is simply the best way to be the best. I personally look for the strengths based approach and truly value discourse. Reaching the largest audience, finding innovative marketing segments, creating competitive advantage, and accelerating problem solving efforts, are just a few of the possible benefits.

The Takeaway

Value diversity because you truly want to be the best. Don’t value diversity because you want to have nice pictures of unique faces. Recruit people who will have many different viewpoints and insights. Don’t recruit people who look different and define their value by their differences. Perspectives are essential to business, problem solving, teamwork, ethics, training, personal growth, and maximizing potential. Put great efforts into gathering as many as you can.

 

Roman 3 is an advising and solutions firm that specializes in inspiring progressive action, creating a culture of innovation, and assisting organizations in implementing transformative change. We help you build capacity, collaborate, be progressive, and grow to your full potential. For more information on our services and support check us out at www.roman3.ca 

Improve Your Career Skill Development Teamwork

Why am I Intimidated by Networking?

Do I Really Have to Network?

Ok, so let me guess, you have been seeking a new job or trying for a promotion, however, you can’t catch a break. You have a great resume and cover letter, a good reputation from people who know you and you are skilled and ready for the next step…still, you can’t seem to capitalize on any opportunities. What are you doing wrong? Well, for starters, the main opportunity you are not truly capitalizing on is the fact that you have all of those essential things in place and you know you are ready, but do enough people realize that you are ready?

This is the whole idea behind networking, it is really about just making your skills and ambition known to others, which is where the intimidating part comes in; many of you feel like you are a shameless vacuum cleaner salesman who needs to go around and steer every conversation about how great and needed their product is (in case I lost you, the product is not a vacuum, it’s you), which turns people off and often makes a bad impression. This is true, no one likes to be around a pushy salesperson or talk to folks who are only there to sell you on something.  People hate talking to others who are not being genuine and are only there to push forward their ulterior motive or personal agenda.

Another part that really intimidates people with networking is a lot simpler.  Most of us don’t like talking to strangers. Maybe it’s because, like me, you grew up in the 80’s with ‘Stranger Danger’, or maybe you simply have an introverted side and it just takes a lot out of you to meet and chat with those you really don’t know.

Networking Doesn’t Have to be Complicated

So, do you need to be an extraverted, natural salesman to network?  No, not at all, networking is traditionally thought of as going to formal events and mingling and chatting with strangers, exchanging business cards, making small talk and looking for ways to humbly brag.  Now, I will admit as someone who does this a fair amount, this is both intimidating and exhausting.  In the work I do, I spend a lot time “schmoozing”, which is the part I like the least even though there are those rare times I meet someone who I really click with and who gives me new ideas and viewpoints.  Is it my most meaningful form of networking? No, not even a little.

The most meaningful networking approach for me revolves around two simple, yet impactful, strategies; looking for information or looking to help.

There is a professional speaker and author named Michael Goldberg, (here is link to his TEDX talk), who is an expert on networking and he has a great definition for it: “A proactive approach to meet people to learn with the prospect of helping them” – Michael Goldberg

Personally, I like this definition of networking because it is not suppose to be about convincing people to hire you, buy from you, refer you, or listen to your ideas.  Nor is it meant to be an intimidating and overwhelming process; it should be about learning and helping.

How to Comfortably and Effectively Network

The trick to the formal networking events is to have a reason to network, a purpose for the conversations. When I do the “schmoozing” the only real benefit I get out of it is that people see my face, maybe learn my name, and hopeful share contact info. The main payoff is that if I follow up with the new person I met, I have a starting point to the conversation where I can reference where we met. However that follow-up contact (phone or email) is where the real networking begins. Normally when I reach out to people to follow up it is because I am trying to get information, learn something or look for a way to help. Oddly enough, my follow up from the schmoozing is only marginally more effective than when I cold call someone to get information or look to help. That could mean one of three things; either I am a bad conversationalist, a relentless cold caller, or the real impact of networking is looking to do something with or for the person I met. For my own self-esteem, let’s hope the later is true.

The key is to network with intention, not just at schmoozing events but with everyone you come in contact with while going about your everyday.  Always look for any reason to reach out to someone new with a purpose whether it is at work to contact a new vendor, service provider, government employee or community member, or even if it is chatting with another parent at your kid’s basketball game.  It is important to have a reason to look for information or to help; this will give you the purpose to contact them.

Keep in mind; it is really only by a continued relationship that you start to build a network. Only by working with people, following through on your commitments, showing your passions and dedication and providing the give and take that is essential to all successful relationships will a new person actually become part of your network. Then you begin to capitalize on your skills and ambition plus build the reputation you need to get to where you want to go. The old adage, “It’s not what you do, it’s who you know” is not accurate.  A more fitting adage is, “It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.”  This is how you start to make a difference and build up your reputation.  There is no sense being ambitious and passionate at something if you are only working with and preaching to the converted. Remember, an effective way that networking can make a huge difference in looking for information or looking to help is with volunteering.  I wrote an earlier article about on LinkedIn this titled: Volunteering is Your Career Marketing Plan. Check it out for more depth on this.

The Takeaway

Networking isn’t just about the intimidating schmoozing events, it is about the conversations you have with people and the connections that you make as you are trying to look for information or to help. This is how you show individuals, ideally lots of people, your skills and ambition. This is how you build a network that will capitalize on those skills and ambition.  Events are an okay place to start, but it is about the follow-up and the actual work you will do with people that makes for effective networking. So if you are looking to be less intimidated by networking, you just need to have a reason to reach out to people who are outside your existing network and find ways to learn from them or to help them.  After that, your skills and ambition will take over and you will create the reputation you deserve and develop the network to match.

 

Roman 3 is an advising and solutions firm that specializes in inspiring progressive action, creating a culture of innovation, and assisting organizations in implementing transformative change. We help you build capacity, collaborate, be progressive, and grow to your full potential. For more information on our services and support check us out at www.roman3.ca