Lawyer’s Lantern
SUCCESSFULLY MANAGING ACROSS DIFFERENCES: 8 TIPS FOR LEADING DIVERSE TEAMS BY LORI L. GARRETT
What do the following sentences have in common?
• It is parental leave now, not maternity leave. • Our company is becoming more global.
• We have to learn about different cultures for our business to grow.
•My team is getting younger and younger. • The company’s offshoring has increased.
14
•Many of my direct reports have asked about partner benefits.
• Our group deals with international time zones when we meet with clients.
• The department should look at the calendar to see if that conflicts with Ramadan.
• We are outsourcing more. T
you can best lead your team. But have you ever taken the diversity of your team into account? T e tips below are meant to provide managers with specifi c strategies for successfully leading their diverse teams.1
TIP 1: Create Diverse Teams. I have assumed that your team is already diverse when, in fact, you may need to be reminded that you are a decision maker who can impact the advancement of diversity in your organization by intention- ally creating diverse teams to work on projects. Good man- agers fi nd ways to create diverse teams that include a variety of perspectives, representation from multiple constituencies, and diff erent voices. T e broader the range of contributions, the better decisions your team will make.2
hese are all examples of statements from managers of diverse teams. T ese sentences signify the real diff erences, from cultural to gen- erational, amongst team members. T ey also bring to mind policies in the workplace that help all team members feel more included, like providing parental leave for fathers, off ering same-sex partner benefi ts, and recognizing diverse
religious holidays. If you are a manager, I am sure you have thought about how
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011
TIP 2: Do Not Assume Others Share Your Point of View. Did you know that I have an innate bias that assumes others have the same wants and needs as me? You have the same bias. Every one of us has this bias because we all form opinions based on our own preferences and perspectives and often give too much weight to these opinions when making decisions and assessments.3
Naturally, an extra helping of one
individual’s preferences and perspectives can adversely aff ect a diverse team’s ability to achieve the best results.
TIP 3: Encourage Risk Taking. Successful managers of diverse teams encourage their direct reports to take well-considered, del- iberate risks. I am not talking about encouraging your team to take wild, uneducated, bet-the-company-and-get-you-fi red kind of risks. I am talking about encouraging your direct reports to
MCCA.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52