{"id":1502,"date":"2013-02-28T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev-peopletekcoaching.pantheon.io\/?p=1502"},"modified":"2021-10-14T21:37:47","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T21:37:47","slug":"diversity-and-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/2013\/02\/28\/diversity-and-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversity and Differences"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you hear the word \u201cdiversity\u201d, what comes to mind?\u00a0 Per the Bing dictionary, it can mean a \u201c<\/strong>variety of something such as opinion, color, or style\u201d, it can be \u201cethnic variety, as well as socioeconomic and gender variety, in a group, society, or institution\u201d, and it can be \u201ca discrepancy, or a difference from what is normal or expected\u201d.<\/p>\n

We had the privilege to attend two conferences for Alpha Kappa Psi, a co-ed business fraternity with brothers from across the country, and in England.\u00a0 In one of the sessions, the topic of becoming more diverse was identified as a goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur greatest strength as a human race is our ability to acknowledge our differences, our greatest weakness is our failure to <\/strong>embrace them<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judith Henderson<\/em><\/p>\n

Diversity and Differences . . .<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Knowledge, acceptance, and awareness were identified as key factors for becoming more diverse by the fraternity brothers.\u00a0How accepting are you<\/strong> of differences?\u00a0 Would you consider yourself and your organization to be diverse?<\/p>\n

Before you answer, think about what comes to mind when topics related to diversity and differences surface. Do you think about race, culture, age, gender, sexual orientation and disabilities?<\/p>\n

Do you also think about accents, education, physical size, spiritual orientation, and political preferences?<\/p>\n

Differences are limitless. What\u2019s key is our awareness and respect for how these differences strengthens our team and our organization.<\/p>\n

We all have biases and filters. What we suggest is taking the time to examine our biases and recognize the impacts differences have on attitudes and actions with the ultimate goal to appreciate and utilize what\u2019s different.<\/p>\n

Dr. Martin Davidson, Associate Dean and Chief Diversity Officer for the Darden School<\/em> provides the following:<\/p>\n

Diversity has the potential to elevate performance, both individually and collectively.<\/strong> When it is engaged and managed well, difference provides unparalleled benefits in performance, innovation, and satisfaction . . .<\/p>\n

Diversity challenges us to examine our values.<\/strong> Real harmony emerges in a diverse community only after the members of that community have challenged<\/strong> one another, listened<\/strong> to one another, felt reactive and frustrated with one another, and experienced empathy and understanding<\/strong> with one another, even when our positions are irreconcilable.<\/p>\n

Diversity provides the context for learning inside and outside of our classrooms or offices.<\/strong> The way we effectively enhance our performance and challenge our values is through learning.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d like to add to the list of differences.\u00a0 Have you observed a variety of leadership skills, traits and behaviors within your organization?\u00a0\u00a0Do you relate equally to all styles?\u00a0 Chances are \u201cno\u201d.<\/p>\n

There are many leadership profiles that identify preferred styles. There is no \u201cright or wrong\u201d style, and having a blend makes for a stronger team. Be cognizant of how these differing styles make you feel, and strengthen your team and organization by valuing those differences.<\/p>\n

Listen to one another, challenge opposing perspectives, and treat all views respectfully and with an open mind!\u00a0\u00a0 Do you appreciate differences?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you hear the word \u201cdiversity\u201d, what comes to mind?\u00a0 Per the Bing dictionary, it can mean a \u201cvariety of something such as opinion, color, or style\u201d, it can be \u201cethnic variety, as well as socioeconomic and gender variety, in a group, society, or institution\u201d, and it can be \u201ca discrepancy, or a difference from what is normal or expected\u201d. We had the privilege to attend two conferences for Alpha[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-interpersonal-skills"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}