[SOUND] Today we're going to be talking about the topic of diversity. To help us with that discussion, I've invited one of our local experts here in the College of Business. Professor Denise Lewin Loyd to help us out by talking a little bit about the topic. Denise, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got interested in studying diversity? >> Thanks, Greg. Well, I've been interested in studying diversity I guess since my past life where I worked in construction. I studied civil engineering and I worked in construction management for several years. And one of the things that I noticed as I was working was that, both being African American and being female made me equally in the minority in that context. But whereas I really navigated through space thinking more about my race, on the construction site, people interacted with me more through the lens of gender. So there was more sort of conversation interaction around gender. And that itself fascinated me, because I started to understand that diversity is really interacted. It's about interactions between people and not just about how you think about your space in the world around you. And when I got interested in furthering my education and looking at issues that are important to leaders and managers in the workplace, for me that was a natural one to really try to understand and unpack. >> So why is it so important for leaders to know how to manage diversity effectively? >> Well, one of the biggest things that I like to say about diversity, especially now in this very global and incredibly interconnected world, is diversity is. Like capital I capital S. Right, I mean this is just the space in which people are interacting these days, certainly the employees that the leaders of today are managing, are exposed on a regular and constant basis to individuals who are different from them and who likely think differently from them, and have had different experiences from them. And I think it's really incredibly important for me to just understand that this is a resource. So, rather than thinking of it as a challenge to really understand the opportunity that diversity presents because it is the space that you have to navigate. Diversity can really be a resource for a number of reasons. Because differences that people have can bring different experiences and expertise to bear on problems that are important to managers. We also know that the problems that we're having to solve are increasingly complex and we need more often groups of people to work together to solve these problems. And the benefit of working in a group is actually in bringing different perspectives and different information to the table. There´s not a lot of value in bringing five people together to talk about something if everybody there thinks the same thing, that´s really a waste of time and resources. But we know that individuals are likely to bring different perspectives to the table. People who are different from each other may have different experiences, have different perspectives, and can bring those to bear. And that's where the value can really come from for managers in increasing, you know, performance and other outcomes. >> So, can you tell us a few things that managers need to know about managing this diversity resource to be more effective leaders? >> So, one of the things that I think is important for managers to understand, and I think there's more traction around this, is the point that I was making about why diversity's valuable. So, there's been more conversation, and I think in particular, industries that are consumer-facing, where you have different consumer markets that you're trying to engage with. And acknowledgement that different markets may have different interests, may have different needs or maybe different cultural norms that organizations want to respond to. And if they respond to them well, they can actually benefit their bottom line by increasing purchases and increasing loyalty of the customer base. That's suggests this basic idea that one of the reasons diversity is valuable is because people who are different from each other in some way actually have different experiences and different perspectives, and bring those to the table. That's important and I think that's true, although when we talk about diversity, we're not really just talking about differences between people, kind of on the surface. Right, so certainly we think about differences in gender and race, as I mentioned before, my own sort of background. But we think about differences in where someone went to school, what their education was, right? What was their major? It might have differences in which department they're a part of, so if you're in a team with someone from sales and someone from marketing, we think about cross functional differences. So there are lots of differences that we can and should think about when we talk about diversity. And often times, our go to is when we bring these differences together, there are inherently different perspectives that are underlying those differences that we kind of see on the surface or the differences that we're aware of. That's good and I think of that as sort of the traditional value of diversity and that's something I think more managers are starting to think about, or maybe even thinking about a little bit now for maybe the last 10, 15 years. Something that I think is really important for them to recognize and some of the work that I've done on diversity really emphasizes this. Is that there's more than just that value of diversity. And if we take that value that people who are different from each other are expected to have different perspectives that can also be quite limiting. Because we know that people who are different from each other may not have different perspectives, and we know that people who have looked the same, may actually have different information, or different expertise, or different knowledge, that's important for the group and that the group can benefit from. But it won't benefit from that if we don't make an effort to bring those different perspectives out. What I think of is the unexpected value of diversity, which you could see here. Which is the idea that people who are the same on the surface may have different perspectives. And people who are different on the surface may have similar perspectives, is that we found that the presence of diversity, so the presence of some difference that's salient to people that are working together, actually helps facilitate sharing a different perspectives from everybody that's present. So the good thing about that is having this salient differences on the surface can actually help managers get the value that they want out of the diversity that they have in their organizations. And the value that they want is this value of different perspectives and different information that their employees can bring to solve important and difficult problems. >> So, surface diversity may cue people to think hard about underlying diversity, even if the underlying diversity doesn't necessarily correlate with the surface diversity? >> Absolutely, and not just think about it, but we found that the presence of service diversity actually makes it easier for people to bring up these different perspectives. One of the challenges of bringing up different perspective is that, most of us don't really want to be you know, the different one, right? The one that's saying something, that's not what everybody else thinks. Even though the best value really comes from that, right? As I said, if everybody thinks the same thing, then what's the point of having a group of people together? So even though managers desire innovation and they desire creativity and those things come about from sharing different perspectives. Often times it's difficult for people to bring up those different perspectives. And so this signal of surface level diversity not only helps remind people that there may be underlying opinion differences or perspective differences, it actually helps the people who have those different perspectives feel more comfortable sharing those different perspectives. >> So differences at the surface level actually legitimate differences in ideas, differences in perspective and make it easier for people to raise those issues for their group so that they can become an informational resource for the group. >> So I really appreciate that you used the word legitimate. Because the presence of different perspectives doesn't necessarily translate into better interactions, more innovation, more creativity without a role of an effective leader, right? A role of an effective leader in that process can help make those different perspectives seem legitimate to the different team members. What do I mean by that? Different perspectives in and of themselves may be pushed back against, right? We've all been in that context where there's somebody who you know, think something different. And people are sort of looking to the leader to see, okay, are we really open to this, you know, different idea? Or, you know, should we start making fun of this person, right? Or ostracize them in some way. So, the role that leader really have to play in helping realize the value of the diversity that's present is creating a context where those differences are valued, are respected and demonstrating that by soliciting different perspectives from individuals. By making sure that the team understands the value that the different team members bring to the table. So it doesn't just happen naturally, right? It really does take a leader to help bring out the potential that is present in diversity teams. >> So, what should someone take away from our discussion today if they want to be a more effective leader? >> So I think there are a few takeaways. I mean, the first is the good news, right? That the diversity really has a lot of potential to facilitate things like innovation in groups, creativity. Helping individuals think in more complex ways and really improve decision making in teams, but as a leader, this doesn't just happen by itself, right? So, one thing is that differences need to be actively solicited, right? Different perspectives need to be brought to the table, and even though the presence of diversity helps make that more likely, that nudge, that push really makes a difference. So leaders need to take a role in making sure those are solicited. And then they need to make sure that it's a legitimate space for differences to be brought up and discussed, and interacted, and engaged with. Because if the difference is brought up, but nobody engages with it, it's not going to help benefit the team. In order for people to feel comfortable doing that, those differences need to be acknowledged, respected, and appreciated, essentially valued. So the leaders of teams have an important role to play in helping the members of the team understand that these different perspectives are desired and valued, and that's what really can make the difference. And the individuals themselves need to feel validated because in that context if you're the one with that different perspective, it's always going to feel a little bit risky to bring that up and so. To the extent that the team leader has acknowledged here's the value that each member of the scene brings to the table, it makes it a safer space and a more accepting space for you to bring up something that might be different than the other people think. >> Are there some sources people might take a look at it if they want to learn more about diversity and how to manage diversity more effectively? >> Absolutely. One of my favorite books on diversity is called The Difference by Scott Page. And really helps us see one of the first points that I mentioned here, the many different context in which the presence of differences really can be beneficial for teams, groups and organizations. So I highly recommend that as a resource for students and anyone interested in understanding how to more effectively manage diverse teams >> Great! Thanks Denise for coming to visit with us today, and giving us some insights on how to manage diversity more effectively to be a better leader. >> Thanks for having me Greg, I really appreciate it.
