The dictionary.com defines diversity to be a state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness: diversity of opinion. Diversity is an important vocabulary that has come to stay with huge importance in all societies.
We have over the time emphasised diversity in Nigeria on the ethnicity, religion and equality basis, hence the federal character slogan. Diversity has been recognised for the race, ethnic, colour, sex, religion and for people with less-ability.
However, there is a form of diversity that is, though related to people have not gained traction in recognition among business and political leaders even with those who had travelled wide and far with maximum exposure to top notched management techniques.
Peter, (a pseudo name) a C-level executive of his company, a diversely located entity in Africa travelled outside the country on a week’s work-study to one of the successful international companies within his industry. He was privileged to understudy the CEO of the company in the foreign land and participated at the meetings to observe how things were done. His intention was to study and understand the characteristic of the High-Performing Organisations (HPOs) and replicate this in his company and across its subsidiaries.
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He noted that Arnold, the CEO, rarely interjects people at meetings and speaks just a few words to conclude or take a decision at meetings. Arnold has been a reputable CEO for two decades and known for ninety per cent accuracy for his decisions.
Based on what Peter witnessed and Arnold’s impeccable records, he determined to speak less and listen more. However, he developed the habit of accusing staff at his meetings of speaking too much once the expression of the staff is beyond his tolerable limits.
Peter gained exposure to the importance of listening skills, but he failed to value the diversity in the personality of people as the impetus to listening skills. The understanding the personality profile of people as either extrovert and introvert is a key factor to managing people and leading high-performing organizations.
People communicate differently based on their emotional contents and ability. Neuro-diversity is necessary for the workplace to tolerate people who think and communicate differently either from their ability or inability or out of passion. Some of the extroverts we accuse of talking too much if they make sense and don’t deviate from the subject of discussion have the high level of passion and commitment for the organisations. Their level of enthusiasm and ownership thinking is the catalyst for the desire to express diverse views and make meaningful contributions to the team.
In the workplace, we need to understand that the diversity in the personality profile of the people is more important than that of their sex, race and religion. The personality is the embodiment of the culture, sex, religion and background of the person. If the personality of the introvert is not understood, a leader will not know how to extract a response from such staff. Most often, the important contributions are in the introvert but lack of the suitable word for expression prompt the silence. An extrovert will willingly volunteer his or her voice and must be moderated if his or her comments are progressive but never be discouraged or shut off with unguided comments. Leaders should be mindful of their unconscious bias in order to get the best from their people.
Peter’s attitude made his meetings a place of silence as most of his staff will rather keep being observers than to be embarrassed as someone who talks too much. His engagement became less effective and turned into the one-man show. This was, however, due to his unconsciousness of the need for leaders to find and let the best idea win irrespective of how the idea is expressed.
There are many Peters in the workplace. If your disposition to diverse views that is not in line with yours is negative, you are a Peter in another version. Leaders who are progressive must learn to accept the views of others in the search for the strategy to win more business and gain market dominance.
Recognising the diversity in the personality of people will give you access to a greater range of ideas and also create a fulfilling work environment for your talents. People that are expressive have been discovered to be more committed to achieving results for their team.
At all levels, leaders should be mindful of their bias and generate ideas in a meeting without necessarily making people feel out of order. People are essential to organisations if they must be effective and contribute to the nation’s strive to achieve the objectives of the sustainable development goals.
Babs Olugbemi
Babs Olugbemi, the Chief Responsibility Officer at Mentoras Limited and Founder, the Positive Growth Africa
