CPR Technique: How can we really embrace diversity and build a trusted relationship on the team?
One aspect of a leader’s job is to create an environment where each team member believes that their contributions are seen, heard and have an influence.
Embracing diversity brings different minds together to create the best value every time; a value that is unmatched. Diversity and Inclusion is not about representation, but it is about creating a system to recognize the individual contributions without any bias.
Embracing diversity is the behavior of celebrating the “individual” and being self-aware of any filters we might unintentionally apply. It is about revealing the genius in everyone. Leaders often enough only embrace the “group” rather than the “individual”; measuring their diversity success in terms of group representations e.g. “X number of people within a specific group are on the board of directors”.
Embracing diversity really starts with appreciating each human being we have on the team with their different set of opinions, insights, and background they bring. The difference that is shaped by their own unique experience and interpretation of the world. Embracing diversity is giving individuals a comfortable place to share their voice and thoughts openly, passionately and freely.
Diversity and Inclusion efforts should be tailored to the needs of each specific individual and then the group. Diversity & Inclusion efforts are typically focused on engaging underrepresented groups; however, the focus should be shifted to the individual while creating a monitoring system to highlight the effectiveness of the diversity and inclusion efforts among the groups.
To embrace diversity, it is important to apply a practical set of actions, a system, to help us becoming more self-aware of any bias we may have. Practicing the CPR technique is only a first step to help us becoming more diverse welcoming. The three principles of CPR technique are:
- Displaying genuine Curiosity: having sincere desire to know and hear what different people have to say.
- Instilling a sense of Protection: empowering people with the sense of safety by creating an environment where they can share their inner self with confidence and comfort.
- Showing empathetic Respect: connecting and recognizing the people uniqueness with full admiration and attentiveness.
Taking small steps in understanding more about everyone around us is the first step to change the workplace to a better place.
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