Amplifying Diverse Voices In Your Boardroom
Why every voice matters and how to amplify those around your leadership table.
If you want to be a leader who promotes inclusivity and sets an example for others, your work goes beyond getting the right people around the table.
It means making sure everyone's opinions and ideas are valued and included.
Yet even when you have the right mix of people and skills in your team (which only one third of executive teams do), it's not guaranteed that everyone gets a chance to speak up.
All too often however a small number of voices dominate discussion and decision making.
Having a diverse team with different backgrounds and experiences isn’t just the right thing to do. The varying backgrounds, experiences and demographics in your team will bring equally broad perspectives - critical for innovation and creative thinking.
But this only happens if these voices are heard and listened to.
Creating a team that genuinely appreciates and actively welcomes input from all members is a shared responsibility.
And while it's important to work with those who are quieter or more reserved to help them find their voice, true inclusivity means the standard should not be set by the most vocal or extroverted individuals.
But the truth is that this is a common situation in many leadership teams if it isn’t actively addressed.
And it can be disheartening for those who think differently or are more reserved. And that sets the tone throughout your entire organisation.
It's a missed opportunity.
Because cultivating inclusivity in leadership extends beyond internal benefits. When leadership voices reflect the diversity of your customers, you gain invaluable insights into their needs, preferences, and challenges. By encouraging and valuing different perspectives, your decision-making becomes more robust, effective and resilient.
To harness the power of the diverse experiences and perspectives within your leadership team, listening to all voices must be the norm.
Creating an environment where every individual feels respected and empowered to contribute will not only enhance your own team dynamics but also foster a culture of inclusivity throughout your business.
So, if you want to truly leverage the diversity of experiences and perspectives within your leadership team, the following four self coaching exercises will get you started:
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Review: Building an environment where your leaders feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, challenging assumptions, and engaging in constructive debates is critical.
You can uncover blind spots, mitigate biases, and make well-rounded and resilient decisions. But it takes intentional effort to get there.
Start by reflecting on your current position.
Imagine you are in a helicopter watching over your leadership team gathering or board meeting. What do you see?
Which voices are at the forefront of your discussions and which tend to get overshadowed by others?
What currently hinders the inclusion of all leadership voices in your senior team?
How does this mirror what you see in the rest of your organisation?
Vision: Think forward, six or twelve months about the example you’d like your leadership team to be setting.
How do you want your senior team to interact together?
What will a discussion that has equal input and includes all voices, opinions and input be like?
What stories would you like to be able to share across the business?
Adapt: Every leader is unique and has different preferences when it comes to how they like to voice their views. Perhaps you are outspoken and enjoy a passionate debate; or alternatively you may be more reserved and reflective perhaps.
As an Executive Coach I love using tools like Everything DiSC® for Leaders with senior teams to help them understand their own natural preferences for communication and learn why others around the table engage differently.
When different communication styles have been found to be the biggest cause of communication challenges at work, its power isn’t to be underestimated.
What are the ranges of natural styles that you have in your current leadership team?
How does that influence how the team communicates?
What principles can you commit to as a team to be more inclusive to each others contributions?
Get personal: Think about who you listen to and surround yourself with.
Human relationships are often formed on the basis of having something in common and it is natural to gravitate towards people of similar gender, race, sexuality, and frame of reference. And to those who think and communicate in the same way that you do.
This affinity bias can come into play when shaping who you listen to and engage with during your career long term, and day to day.
And an inner circle that lacks diversity will lack diversity of ideas and innovation.
Reflect on your interactions this month:
Who were the first people that you called when you needed a sounding board?
What demographics and styles do these people have, similar to you?
What characteristics and opinions are you missing out on?
What new perspectives could these voices bring you?