A diverse team can bring different perspectives to the discussion resulting in a better overall result.

Why is there this continued strong backlash against DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging)? Why are some people totally frightened or hateful toward this concept? Why is it, that when I teach a DEIB training for a client, there is always a small group of people sitting with their arms folded across their chest with no intention of listening or learning?

One misconception is that the DEIB is about dividing the “diverse” people from the “non-diverse” people and offering them special advantages. But who is diverse and non-diverse? My overriding precept in this discussion is:

EVERY SINGLE PERSON IS A VALUABLE PART OF THE DIVERSITY MIX.

The diversity discussion is not about dividing people, but recognizing that every single person is their unique combination of attributes, personality and experience and have something special to offer to their community, their workplace and the world.

And even a group of people that may seem homogeneous on the outside can be  among themselves very diverse. For example, you can place 8 straight white American men in a room and see how they are diverse:

There is probably great diversity even among this group of straight white men.

• One may be a veteran
• One may have a disability that is not visible to the eye
• One may be happily married with children
• One may be happily married with no kids
• One may be a first generation American whose parents immigrated to the USA
• One may be single and never been married
• One may be a widowed father raising a kid
• One may be the only person on the team without a college degree

When I offer diversity training, I lead with this concept that every single person is unique and valuable. Then I have people think about how they may be unique from every other person on their team, and what special strength or insight they may have because of that uniqueness.

Then I ask the whole group what the result could be if every person in their organization could leverage their uniqueness for the benefit of the organization. Some of the replies include:
• We would be more creative and innovative
• By sharing our different perspectives, we could arrive at better solutions to issues or challenges
• We could more effectively serve our diverse client set
• People would listen to and value each other, which would enhance productivity and talent retention.

So you see, diversity is not something to be afraid of or demonize. If we remember that every single person is part of the story and hence has something special to bring to the table, we could leverage diversity to build a better organization, a better community and a better world.

In Part 2 – I will dig deeper into what equity really means and is.

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Here is a related blog I published 10 years ago!!   Please read “Leadership Lessons from Star Wars – The Force Awaken” where I share the value to listening to and valuing diverse perspectives from diverse team members.  (especially the paragraph in italic.)