The most powerful questions are short, open-ended, and begin with “what” or “how.”
take on assignments in unfamiliar areas, go outside of their comfort zones, accept stretch assignments, and act in ways that do not come natural or easy to them. A manager who encourages her team to take these types of risks will see pay- off s in her team’s personal growth and increased confi dence.4
Along these lines,
the more a supervisor delegates to his/her diverse direct reports, the more the team can develop its full potential by having the opportunity to learn from mistakes.
TIP 4: Ask Powerful Penetrating Questions. It is said that the most powerful questions are short, usually seven words or less, open-ended, and begin with “what” or “how.”5
and tactics with their team. T e gold is in the diff erent view- points of your diverse team members, so if you never ask for those viewpoints, you are certainly burying your trea- sure. Brainstorming for a diverse team is the most eff ec- tive when everyone suspends judgment
until all the ideas are on the table.
TIP 6: Provide and Solicit Regu- lar Feedback. Off ering your diverse team regular feedback allows you as the manager to address items as they surface, before small concerns grow into big problems. However, managers should also ask their team for feedback about the manager’s eff ectiveness in leading the team. T is “upward,” or 360-degree, feedback provides manag- ers with an opportunity to hear directly about how their management style and approach aff ects the team and what can be done to help to improve a team leader’s supervisory performance.
Here are
some examples: What do you want to be diff erent? What’s important about that? How will you know if it works? What concerns you most? How important is this? How can I support you? Asking these kinds of probing questions will get your team think- ing and will elicit more valuable input from the group as you seek to make decisions on behalf of and act in the best interest of your company.
TIP 5: Encourage Team Members to Come to T eir Own Conclusions First. Let’s put Tip 4 to good use in Tip 5 by off ering another way you might approach your diverse team: “Before I tell you what I think we should do, team, I want to hear from you. What do you think?” Rather than telling people what to do, eff ective managers of diverse teams brainstorm strategies
TIP 7: Model Acceptance and Inclu- sion. Teams look to their leaders for cues on how to treat others, and what is important to the team, its leaders, and the company. If a leader does not demonstrate acceptance or inclusion of diverse individuals and their diff er- ent perspectives, expect his staff to do the same thing. Good managers have taken it upon themselves to learn about the diff erences in values that come from the diff erent backgrounds of their team members, whether that is because of cultural diff erences, generational diff erences, gender diff erences, or the other myriad ways that make the indi- viduals on diverse teams unique. Good managers also seek to understand how their team members communicate dif- ferently and encourage everyone to be respectful of diff erent communication styles that may not be their own.
TIP 8: Seek Out Management Training. A great number of practic- ing lawyers graduate from undergrad, immediately enroll in law school, and begin practicing law as their fi rst career without much formal manage- ment experience or training. One way that you can improve your ability to lead diverse teams is to get specifi c management and leadership training. If you are interested in structured management training, check with your local or state bar, the various diverse bar associations, your area leadership academies, or other private consultation services for more infor- mation about what training might be available to you. Leading any team is a challenge.
Leading diverse teams can, in some ways, be even more diffi cult because the manager is also taking into account the perspectives, values, backgrounds, and viewpoints of people who may be very diff erent from one another. However, the benefi ts of learning how to manage teams that are diverse far exceed the challenges, and in the end, the results cannot only be a boon to the company, but also refl ect positively on you, the team leader. D&B
Lori L. Garret is MCCA’s vice president and managing director for MCCA’s southeast region. She heads MCCA’s professional development services.
1A few of these tips are taken directly from an excellent
article by Miriam Bamberger, CPCC, and Heather Bradley, CPCC, entitled “Put Me In, Coach!” that appeared in MCCA’s September/October 2004 issue of Diversity & The Bar®. The full article can be found at
http://www.mcca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.vie wPage&PageID=769&varuniqueuserid=15397084446. 2
See Miriam Bamberger and Heather Bradley, The Ins and Outs of Managing, Diversity & The Bar®, November/ December 2003 Issue, available online at http://www.
mcca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&Pag eID=987&varuniqueuserid=15397084446 3
See id. 4See Miriam Bamberger and Heather Bradley, Taking
Risks as a Career Strategy, Diversity & The Bar®, March/ April 2005 Issue, available online at
http://www.mcca. com/
index.cfm?fuseaction=
page.viewPage&PageID=7 80&varuniqueuserid=15397084446 5
See supra note 1.
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