Everyone belongs

It takes tough conversations, hard work to build inclusive culture

Asmuch aswewould all like to think that simply assembling a diverse team will magically bring results, it often doesn’twork thatway. Having a team with differing backgrounds, experiences andways of thinking can help you produce superior results as you serve your customers better. But it takeswork to create an environment where everyone thrives.

Differences exist. You can’t pretend they don’t or that there isn’t an adjustment period that needs to take place before the group can function cohesively. That often means addressing those differences head-on, along with any challenges they may bring.

That’swhymost organizations struggle to create an inclusive environment. They don’twant to have tough conversations. Theywant everyone to get along andworkwell together.

As a result, the goal of having an “inclusive” culture is only possible as long as certain topics aren’t addressed, or as long as no one is forced to have uncomfortable conversations.

As such, when issues do arise, they aren’t always handled appropriately. Friction arises, team members are alienated and people don’t perform at their best. No bueno.

DeborahOwens is the founder of Corporate Alley Cat, an organization that helps and supports the needs of people of color in their corporate careers. After experiencing discrimination in her career, she told me about the resistance she received when it came time to address the issue.

“Iwas very skilled at driving results, I knew howtomeet and exceed objectives, Iwas a good problem solver, I think Iwas innovative. But nobody had ever taughtme howto handle dis-

crimination in theworkplace,” she said.

“I can saymy boss has a drinking problem and nobody goes ‘Whoa, whoa.’ He might be doing some recreational drugs. I can saymy boss has affairs at theworkplace. I can say, he might beat his wife or he’s abusive to his wife. But the moment you say, ‘I thinkmy boss is a racist,’ theworld goes crazy.

“‘You can’t say that! You can’t just go around saying that!’ And what happens is, you find yourself in a situation where there’s no one to talk about it, because it’s such a combustible topic. Andwe all act as if it doesn’t exist.”

Creating an inclusive environment means everyone on your team feels as though they belong. Itmeans cultivating a space where everyone is comfortable speaking up, without fear of retaliation, being ostracized or ridiculed for saying something that may not be popular.

And when someone does say something youmay not be so happy about hearing, you’ve got a responsibility to listen. And, where necessary, take appropriate action to resolve a problem.

Because if someone letting their voice be heard ismet with resistance, the likelihood of him or her stepping out again is greatly diminished.

Good things don’t happen when your team doesn’t feel empowered to speak up. Turn to the Pepsi ad debacle for a verypublicand expensive example. Peruse the #blackwomenatwork hashtag for an abundance of instances of unfortunate encounters going on behind the scenes.

In time, the rock-star team you assembled with somuch promisewill begin to unravel. People will disengage or leave.

It doesn’t have to be thatway. I recently read about two parents who have given their children anXPlan. It’s away for the kids to get out of social situations they don’t feel comfortable in— simply by texting anXto their parents— while allowing them to not have to answer awkward questions fromtheir friends. After theXis texted, one of the parents then calls the child and says he or she is coming to collect the child.

The ideaworkswell because it creates a safe space for kids to communicate with their parents about an uncomfortable situation, if theywant to do so. TheX-Plan comes with the agreement that the parents will pass no judgments and ask no questions.

Safe spaces need to exist at your company. Every person on your team needs to feel comfortable enough to talk about something they aren’t comfortable with, or to raise the red flag on an idea they feel is going awry. Aversion of theX-Plan should be a part of yourworkplace.

You need to create a safe space where people are free to talk about their differences— one that makes it easy for everyone to expand their own viewpoint andwalk amile in the shoes of those whose perspectives deviate fromtheir own.

Then you’ll create an empathetic organization— one that isn’t afraid to tackle the difficult or uncomfortable for the purpose of getting to the magic that happens on the other side.

Then you’ll have created a culture where everyone feels that they belong. One that’s inclusive. One that people enjoy being in. One that outperforms others.

But you’ve got to plan in advance to create a culture that operates like this. And then you’ve got to do thework to implement and maintain it. It will not happen on its own.