Lost in Google Translation

A Few Simple Tips for Managing Diverse Teams

In this issue: Lost in Google Translation / 5 Things High-Performing Teams Do Differently / CHROs Optimism on Growth Tempered by Engagement, Mental Health Challenges / “Your Ideas Are Not Your Identity” / On The Lighter Side: The Elephant in the Room

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Why you’re getting this:

I'm Andrea J. Miller and this is my “The Wellthy Leader” Newsletter. I send this to people in my networks, people I’ve met recently, and friends I want to keep in touch with. You can unsubscribe (SEE THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE EMAIL) anytime, I won’t be offended.

Lost in Google Translation

A Few Simple Tips for Managing Diverse Teams

The world is literally at your fingertips… or at least on the other end of the computer that you’re Zooming on.

Post-COVID boundaries have become more digitally fluid and increasingly remote, simultaneously expanding opportunities and adding complexities.

It can be easy to confuse the de facto universal language (English) for culture and beliefs, mistaking this common denominator for the whole equation.

But cultural identity comes in many forms and is often hidden.

The Island of Misfit Workers…

Recently I returned to Geneva, Switzerland, a place I called home for nine years. Being back reminded me just how many of us live our lives across worlds and identities - consciously or unconsciously navigating differences.

When I lived there, I functioned (most of the time :) within multiple cultures and languages, usually surrounded by others doing the very same thing.

My colleagues and I, like so many people today, were/are cultural misfits.

Being a “misfit” can be a very good thing. It provides opportunities to learn, grow and expand perspectives. However, it can often be difficult, since organizations rarely handle it well.

The UN, where I worked, was an interesting place to work. With over 100 countries represented it somehow managed to demand diversity while simultaneously requiring uniformity.

The offices generally worked in English and used a western management model. This standardization, also common in multinational organizations, can make overall administration easier but can be difficult for staff. It often impacts the overall wellbeing of staff as they try to fit in and subsequently reduces the innovation so often related to diversity.

Lessons in Translation

Not long after I began working at the UN, I found myself getting confused and annoyed by a colleague’s behavior. I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t doing things in the way they clearly (to me) needed to be done.

Then, I remembered my grad school intercultural management coursework and realized her response made complete sense…in her culture.

Though the organization tacitly expected everyone to use a Western management model, somehow, she missed that memo. Every day she continued to show up wholly, beautifully herself, and successfully did things her own way.

Remembering my training (we all have blind spots) I consciously put aside my judgments and became more curious and started asking more questions.

As research and experience demonstrate, there’s power in our differences. But they can often make us feel uncomfortable.

So, we tend to either conform or ask others to do so…diminishing the person, and relatedly the organization.

“We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

Anais Nin

Whether working in another culture or managing staff from different backgrounds it’s easy to make assumptions about who they are, their background and beliefs.

We all have biases.

It’s important to be deliberate about being/staying open and curious about the people around us.

Staff don’t come with maps showing us where the treasure is buried.

In this time of exponential change and transformation, it’s the companies that embrace and nurture their “misfits” and actively seek the gold that will be most successful.

A Few Simple Tips for Managing Diverse Teams

1.     Be/Stay Curious – as with most things, you don’t know, what you don’t know. Staying curious is an antidote to what may be false assumptions.

2.     Get to Know the Person - We often think we know someone, but don’t really, until mutual trust and a feeling safety are established. Find out about them, ask open-ended questions, listen and learn.

3.     Create a Culture of Trust and Safety – To truly have a high-functioning organization, people need to know that they can trust that it is safe to more fully express themselves, their thoughts, and ideas. In Edgar Schein’s excellent book Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling Building Positive Relationships and Better Organization, he says “…trust builds on the other person’s end because I have shown an interest in and paid attention to what I have been told.”

Ask. Listen. Learn.

4.     Demonstrate Openness and Inclusivity – actively seek and honor different cultural practices, religions, and perspectives. Recognize and celebrate the differences between people.

5.     Most of All Be Flexible – If we’ve learned anything during COVID we’ve learned that flexibility is essential to a happy workplace. People have different needs, it’s important to pay attention and as much as possible consciously address them.

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CHROs Optimism on Growth Tempered by Engagement, Mental Health Challenges: I was recently asked to share my thoughts in this piece by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on what’s ahead for mental health, hiring, and employee engagement.

OTHER RECOMMENDED LISTENS, READS And other interesting things

5 Things High-Performing Teams Do Differently: New research findings offer important clues on ways an organization can foster greater connectedness — even within a remote or hybrid work setting — to engineer higher-performing teams. It takes more than simply hiring the right people and arming them with the right tools to do their work. It requires creating opportunities for genuine, authentic relationships to develop. 

“Your Ideas Are Not Your Identity”: An interview with noted psychologist and author, Adam Grant, discussing his new book and looking at how we can develop the ability—and flexibility—to detach, rethink and recognize that our ideas are not our identity 

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE…

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Are there any other subjects you want me to cover? Hit “Reply” and tell me!

I love hearing from you :)!

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Andrea J. Miller

+1 (646) 556-5401 (Whatsapp)