Starting the CLIMB to diversity

There are many people who have inspired me over the years. They have inspired me for their commitment to ideals or tenacity in making something happen.  These people come from all walks of life and have achieved success in numerous areas.One of those is Nelson Mandela, who is quoted as saying “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”I am also inspired by many places. Jerusalem is one of those places. I acknowledge that whilst it is a multicultural melting pot of religions and cultures, within the only true democracy on the middle east, it is not perfect.It is a place where when you walk on the old stone paths up the old stone steps and past the old stone walls.  A place where signs on those ancient stone walls point out special places for many religious group. These signs, as are many around Israel, are in three languages. Hebrew, Arabic and English. It would be wonderful if the world embraced diversity like that.Walking up those old stone steps, you realise the extent of history, both good and bad that has gone before you. However, I also realised that these old stone steps should tell a story. One that embraces history, whilst looking forwards and upwards.  The story is one of how we can elevate ourselves and our organizations and our communities and by extension of countries and our world. Why do we want to elevate them? We want to elevate them to a higher place of diversity intelligence and embracing differences.In that regard, I have developed a process model for us to use in starting the journey of discovery. It is for starting the CLIMB upwards to a better place of inclusion and diversity.

The CLIMB Model

What follows is a very short summary of a more detailed process of team engagement strategies.

C - the starting point

There many aspects to starting the journey.As leaders we need to COMMIT. This commitment needs to be real, and start the journey to a place where the team are committed to be a part of the process.Getting the commitment of the team, starts with COMMUNICATION. The communication challenge is to encourage team members to explore both the differences and similarities between each other.The team members are CHALLENGED to move out of their comfort zones. They are challenged to communicate with team members with whom they may not communicate normally.COMMUNITY is another aspect of this step. It is vital for a number of reasons.  One is that everybody needs a safe place to revert to, such as their community. It also embraces the idea of forming a new community over time, based on a new set of values and beliefs around a specific area.CONTEMPLATION is a necessary part of the process.  It may be a quite detailed and complex process to embrace the diversity and therefore some time out is necessary. Some religions call this time out the Sabbath or day of rest. Steven Covey refers to “sharpening the saw”. Whatever your comfort zone – this resting and recharging is a necessary step in the process.

L - further action

Moving from the C to the L takes us up a notch in actions.  It expands on the actions started in the previous step.The previous step suggested starting the process of communication. Here we specifically LISTEN to each other. Along with this we start to LOOK at each other through different lenses. The combination of listening and looking should help us get to a point of actually LIKING each other. In the ideal utopian world that extends to LOVE.The LEADERS need to embrace the process and keep leading from the front whilst encouraging the team to keep up. There is concept of leading from the rear, and it comes down to a leadership style where we can push people up the steps or pull them along with us. In embracing diversity, it may make more sense to pull them up, and as leaders we are leading by example.

I - the middle stage

This is the middle of the journey, where possibly the end is not yet in sight. The leader needs to continue to INSPIRE the team. When it is hard to see the end of the journey the team needs inspiration to enjoy the journey without so much focus on the destination.This may require some INNOVATION from the leaders to keep the team moving to a place in the future.The team needs to start to INCULCATE (** INSTILL?) a culture of embracing the diversity amongst us.

M - almost at the top

The inspiration started on the lower step needs to be continued. However, here leaders need to start a process of MENTORING team members in order to MOTIVATE them to continue on the journey. Certain team members will much more committed at this stage to the process. The challenge of leadership is to create MOMENTUM and MOVEMENT towards the next level of embracing diversity.

B - the summit

As we get to the top step, we will always see another set of steps that need climbing. It’s at this stage that we BUILD UP. We build up the relationships between people, we build up ourselves and the people around us. But in order to do that, we need to BREAK DOWN. We need to break down barriers, we need to break down walls between us. We need to break down the bias we show towards others.And then we can really find ways of managing diversity in ways that benefit everyone. We get to BUILD UP ourselves, we get to build up our family, we get to build up our organizations. We get to build up our countries and we get to build up the world. We get to do this in ways that make the world a better place of harmony and diversity.Throughout this process, we need to realise that grand plans and visions of utopia are great as those provide leadership guidance.  But the real challenge and understanding of leadership is that it is to move one person at a time, one group at a time and one organisation at a time.

For more on diversity, check out my previous posts: What is Diversity? and Diversity: How complex is it really?

I finish every blog with “why am I writing this?”

The answer is BECAUSE –

• Because I want to share the ideas, stories, anecdotes and business tips and traps.
• Because I want to pay it forward.
• Because I want to help people grow their businesses.
• Because I want managers to become better managers.
• Because I believe that I can “Give your business the EDGE”

The attached video is a short extract of a keynote address looking at Diversity management and Diversity intelligence.  If you would like to explore the keynote address as an option for your company or organization, please email me at rael@bricker.com.au or call +61 408 600 330 Climbing to Diversity – Keynote Addresswww.bricker.com.auRael BrickerPrevious Diversity BlogsWhat is Diversity ?Diversity – How complex is it really ?