Leading Diverse Teams Important in Today's America

By Alphonse Keasley

In 2015, a report from McKinsey & Company found when an organization is run by a diverse management team, they experienced 35% more in financial returns above their industry mean. Additional studies on the impact of diverse management and teams over the last decade have had comparable results – citing benefits such as organizational performance enhancement, minimizing conformity, greater creative thinking, lower likelihood of bias and more.

This was the research and premise of the “Leading Diverse Teams” seminar series held earlier this Spring for AAMD members. Each interactive session covered a variety of topics with the following key ideas including

• Essential principles of inclusive leadership and learning how to create an environment where every voice is not only heard but valued.
• Fostering a workplace culture that celebrates diversity and promotes open communication.
• Embracing the power of curiosity and perspective-taking in driving innovation within your team.
• Gaining practical strategies to encourage team members to explore and appreciate diverse viewpoints, leading to more robust and creative problem-solving.
• Uncovering the essential features of functional team behaviors that enhance collaboration and productivity.
• Actionable steps for leaders to leverage the unique strengths of each team member, contributing to a harmonious and high-performing work environment.

Our series focused on inclusive leadership which, in essence centers on: leading diverse groups of people, demonstrating respect for each person’s unique characteristics and reducing or eliminating bias. Bernardo Ferdman’s “Inclusive Leadership: Transforming Diverse Lives, Workplaces and Societies” provided an immediately ready tool for implementing the elements of inclusive leadership and guided our discussion.

We particularly looked at the implementation of the first point for Leaders – to hold themselves accountable for creating an inclusive culture.  One set of ground rules that have been published and used widely is Eric Law’s “RESPECTful Communication Guidelines.” 

A few of the guidelines include: 

• R – take Responsibility for what you say and feel without blaming others
• S – be Sensitive to differences in communication/cultural styles
• T – Tolerate ambiguity because we are not here to debate. There are no “winners” or “losers.”

These ground rules allow all members of the team to hold each other accountable, and as teams become more high performing, they should be revised to be commensurate with the team’s maturation.  Of course, such ground rules can be helpful for onboarding new team members as a means to consistently incorporate inclusive leadership, which results in the second point to invite engagement and dialogue.

It is also important to note that effective leading of diverse teams means that no one will be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.  This psychological safety occurs when team members feel safe for taking interpersonal risks.  Psychological safety researchers emphasize that this approach is not about how to be nice or lowering performance standards on teams.  Rather, it can aid in generating more ideas, allowing for more freedom to explore and improve ideas, higher workplace efficiency, as well as increased diversity and inclusion.

Leading diverse teams should be a necessity in today's multifamily industry, as research has shown.  By adopting practices such as RESPECTful Communication Guidelines and fostering psychological safety, leaders can cultivate a culture of innovation and collaboration. 

Embracing diversity and inclusion not only enhances team performance but also drives organizational success, making it imperative for leaders to champion these values consistently.

Guidelines For Inclusive Leadership

For Everyone

1. Acknowledge, connect and engage with others
2. Listen deeply and carefully, as an ally, not a critic
3. Engage on braod range of perspectives
4. Openly share information, seek clarity and openness
5. Be curious
6. Become comfortable with discomfort
7. Increase your self-awareness
8. Be willing to learn and influenced by others
9. Be respectful and demonstrate fairness
10. Foster interdependence and teamwork

For leaders

1. Hold yourself and others accountable for creating an inclusive culture.
2. Invite engagement and dialogue
3. model bringing one's whole self to work and give permission for and encourage others to do so
4. Foster transparent decision-making
5. Understand and engage with resistance
6. Understand and talk about how inclusion connects to the mission and vision of the organization