Racial Identity & Working Culture

3 Leadership Shifts to Celebrate Diversity & Soothe Division – Leadership is challenged when cultures merge. 

That doesn’t mean racial and ethnic diversity isn’t a good thing. In fact, inclusive teams are over 35% more productive. Sixty percent of sales professionals surveyed say diversity has contributed to their team’s success, and organizations in the top quartile of ethnic diversity have a 36% chance of outperforming their peers.

Racial and ethnic diversity is a blessing to any business. It’s simply difficult to achieve — like most worthwhile things — and it’s even more difficult to maintain after long periods of success and failure.

Black History Month is a time for us to acknowledge the societal contributions of Black Americans, as well as advocate for those who have become marginalized by society. That said, it is also a time to celebrate the power of racial diversity and communicate openly about what makes it possible in the workplace.

One leader can’t do everything. By definition, racial and ethnic diversity is a communal effort. Still, there are certain shifts that can be made to your leadership style to help the marriage between racial identity and working culture become much more harmonious and rewarding. These three shifts in tone celebrate the importance of diversity and soothe any division created by cultures coming together.

1. Embrace global influences to your leadership.
   Samuel Butler was a British novelist in the 1800s. He famously carried around notebooks for much of his life, jotting down anything he thought might be worth remembering. One such bit of marginalia is applicable here: “From the worldly point of view, there is no mistake so great as that of always being right.” Butler was a highly intelligent, highly capable man in his day, but even he understood that any one individual’s knowledge and wisdom pales in comparison to the diversity and depth of humanity as a whole.

   Thanks to the boundless connectivity of the internet, even the smallest organizations can be open to a whole world of possibilities. Likewise, every leader can benefit from the wisdom and learning of their comparable colleagues from around the world. Research already shows that ethnic diversity can have a serious impact at the executive level. Those organizations in the top quartile of ethnic diversity are 27% more likely to outperform their peers. Meanwhile, those organizations in the bottom quartile of ethnic diversity are 24% less likely to keep up with or exceed the competition.

   Every corner of the world is getting more global — and so should your leadership. By modeling a more worldly perspective to your team, you send a clear message that diversity is respected and prejudice is outdated and unwelcome.

2. Address conflicts directly with empathy and compassion.
   You know those scenes in action blockbusters when the heroic protagonist dislocates their shoulder, then confidently just pops it back into place? Such moments are iconic to any over-the-top cinematic showdown. In fact, Sylvester Stallone built his entire career off such moments when the Rambo franchise took the world by storm. That said, these scenes don’t show the audience the reality that these injuries will never heal properly. They were dealt with immediately and without much thought. As a result, the wounds will follow these heroes the rest of their lives.

   Cultural tension within the workplace can become a festering wound. Eighty-eight percent of professionals have reported poor morale among their coworkers due to personal interoffice conflict. Once race gets involved, such conflict can become a lightning rod for division throughout the business. This is why the most successful leaders confront these conflicts directly and deal with them in a comprehensive way that involves communication from every party involved.

   Research already shows that communicating with employees in a transparent manner can reduce overall perceptions of discrimination. Imagine what could be possible when the most seasoned of executives starts to listen to their team members according to this logic? The obvious result is fewer sustained conflicts, more authentic professional relationships, and a workplace that can adapt to the ebb and flow of real racial diversity.

3. Make reporting troublesome behavior both easy and anonymous.
   Safety is a necessity for any successful union between racial identity and the workplace. If your team members can’t feel safe, then they can’t even celebrate and respect themselves — much less each other. One in four Black and Hispanic American workers reports suffering from some form of harassment. Meanwhile, a 2023 report revealed that over half of women from marginalized ethnic groups across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and South Africa have experienced racism at work.

   What’s worse, these are only those instances of racially-charged conflict that were actually reported. One in ten employees have witnessed sexual harassment, but almost half of those go unreported. Likewise, almost a third of employees witness some form of bullying, but over 40% of those conflicts never get communicated to a third party. This is why one of the cornerstones of racial diversity and harmony within the workplace is easy and anonymous reporting. If you are trying to discourage prejudice, then it needs to be easy to shine a light on it when it actually happens.

Are your reporting mechanisms crystal clear to every employee? Do you provide thorough training on anti-discrimination policies? Do you promptly investigate complaints when they happen? Do you take swift and decisive action?

Harmony In, Prejudice Out 

Black History Month is an awe-inspiring reminder of both the horrors and the heroism of racial injustice. As such, there is perhaps no better time to make sure that your organization is doing everything it can to empower its own racial diversity and support a peaceful environment for all ethnicities. This is your opportunity to not only take advantage of the bottom-line benefits of a more racially diverse workforce, but to do so in a way that celebrates everyone and promotes authentic unity.

Written by Dr. Sam Adeyemi.
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