Of course, you should be focused on racial, ethnic and gender diversity, but not exclusively—think, too, about disability, upbringing and experience.
All companies are looking for ways to innovate in order to grow profits and marketshare, and competition is as fierce as it’s ever been. Some will grow faster than others—and most of those will have, as part of their secret sauce, diverse teams. That means bringing in employees of different genders and racial backgrounds, certainly, but it also means recruiting people from a range of upbringings and backgrounds.
From small projects to big company decisions, diversity is needed at all levels. But here’s what that really means:
1. Diversity has many faces
Think beyond the typical definition of diversity and see how many different perspectives you can add to your team. I grew up in Poland during the 1970s under communist rule. Life was hard and even though it was only 10 years of my life, it had a major impact on the leader I am today. Growing up in a world of scarce opportunities has made me more efficient in finding them, and my mother’s struggle to keep us fed in that environment now fuels my work ethic and drive. These perspectives have become my personal assets that not every company has. They are one lens in a diverse range that my company employs.
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