The Balancing Act by Sharon Seivert

Author:Sharon Seivert [Sharon Seivert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: 2012-08-31T00:00:00+00:00

Diversity: Accessing the Gifts of All

Claiming diversity is a hallmark of great leadership. Nobel prize winner Edward O. Wilson argues in The Diversity of Life that evolution has created all its myriad differences for some very good reasons. He says that we humans need to be stewards of our biological wealth because such diversity enhances the quality of life on earth. Similarly, diversity of race, creed, culture, gender, opinion, work style, and learning modality is vital to the evolution of an organization, and it greatly affects the quality of life in that system (as ref lected in its morale and productivity).

One of your major functions as a manager is to name, then utilize, the gifts of all the diverse people in your workplace. As John Redtail Freesoul would say, all people are worthy of respect—even if only for the potential that is inside them—because “Knowledge of the Creator and the great mystery of life is hidden in everything created. . . . Every person, animal, plant, or rock has a message or lesson, its Medicine Power.”19 It is your responsibility, then, to establish and maintain an environment of respect for all those in your charge.

The wise leader champions and fully supports his people in their contributions of diverse gifts to the workplace. This doesn’t happen by encouraging workers to aspire to the same externally defined “high” standard. As a senior manager in a Fortune 500 company once told a colleague of mine, “I just got it. I’ve thought I was for diversity. But what I meant is that I would hire any woman, minority, or foreign-born person who thought and acted just like me!”

Social theorists have suggested that instead of thinking of diversity as a melting pot (in which differences are assimilated and homogenized), we should use the analogy of a stew. In a stew, all the different ingredients retain their individual character, yet add to the f lavor and texture of the whole. The advantage of the stew metaphor is that we can still “taste” the unique f lavors of all the ingredients. The overall effect is that of increased richness. As our organizations increasingly become international companies within a global marketplace, they will benefit most from leaders who encourage ethnic, cultural, and other forms of diversity. Managers will also need to capitalize upon the different gifts of men and women for the workplace. As more men and women share leadership positions, they can learn from one another’s native strengths and weaknesses. In this way, they can collectively approach the alchemical ideal of the androgynous monarch. This perfect leader of mythology was typically pictured as a ruler who was half male, half female. In support of this ancient ideal, psychologist Sandra Bem found that the most successful managers had balanced male and female traits rather than being either strongly “masculine” or “feminine.”20

To the extent that this world

surrenders its richness and diversity,

it surrenders its poetry.

To the extent that it relinquishes

its capacity

to surprise, it relinquishes its magic.

To the extent that it loses its ability

to tolerate ridiculous and even dangerous

exceptions, it loses its grace.

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