Be Inclusive for a High-Performing Culture

 

Stereotyping applies beyond the realm of gender, and raising awareness of unconscious bias is known to reduce it.  Encouraging people to correct for biases creates opportunities for women and minorities.  Having greater diversity in leadership and followership can have huge benefits not only to corporate America, but to our society as a whole.  Diverse groups have healthy debate, are more creative, and solve challenging problems.  Different strengths fuse to make the unit stronger.

 

As Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant not in their article “When Talking About Bias Backfires” NYT 7 Dec 2014:

 

Knowledge of the prevalence of stereotyping can lead to greater stereotyping, but awareness can correct biases.  Studies have shown that when women lead, performance improves.

 “To break down the barriers that hold women back, it’s not enough to spread awareness. If we don’t reinforce that people need — and want — to overcome their biases, we end up silently condoning the status quo.”

In “Speaking While Female,” NYT 12 Jan 2015, the same authors highlight why women don’t speak up, and I believe the same could go for others-- whether shy, introverted, or humble.  It is often men who dominate meetings and interrupt women.  With this awareness, they can help by being on guard for this behavior and by using their voices to bring attention to the contributions of those who don’t have the loudest voices and are not dominant.

 

Having practices that foster inclusion and see to it that everyone’s voice is heard would ensure that the best ideas are surfaced regardless of gender, age, race, etc.  This would contribute to a high-performance culture.

 

Lastly, in Madame CEO, Get Me a Coffee, NYT 6 Feb 2015, Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant discuss gender stereotypes and helping behaviors.  When women don’t step up to help they are seen in a far worse light than their male counterparts.  Many helping behaviors are seen as women’s work:  taking notes, setting up refreshments, etc.  Again, just having the awareness that this is happening can enable men to step up and take their turn.

 

 

Thanks to Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant for framing these important issues.  Having them out in the open enables us to continue the inclusive conversation.