The Beyond Performance Blog

Too many times people within the ranks of organisations feel powerless because they aren’t in a traditional leadership position and don’t have the power that comes along with a title.  They feel their ideas will be ignored or worse yet, don’t even offer up suggestions because, well, why should they bother?  They’re just a… (fill in the blank here).

Picture a small mud hut village in India with no electricity or clean running water. Now imagine a group of mainly uneducated women, both old and young, who are at the bottom of society’s pecking order. These women, and many just like them in Bangladesh, Africa, Mexico and Peru, know exactly what they need in order to build a healthy, sustainable community for their children and grandchildren — but they don’t know how to make their voices heard, or even if their words are worth listening to.

We’ve recently been part of a number of discussions about diversity in the workplace and this has us thinking about how we can all be better at recognising our bias’ and working towards removing them.  One way is to engage empathetically.  That way we can ensure our bias — unconscious or otherwise — doesn’t stop us from including someone who might just be the one to create the best possible future for our business.