I grew up going to a small cabin in northern Minnesota. To this day, over 50 years later, I can still remember the horrible whining buzz of even just one mosquito at night after we went to bed. It made it impossible to sleep and not a place I wanted to stay! Each night my grandpa would get out his flashlight and flyswatter and track down every mosquito. He made a huge difference and because of him I felt welcomed at the cabin.
Leaders also have the opportunity, and the accountability, to create a workplace where everyone on their team feels welcomed. That is my simple definition of diversity and inclusion. It doesn’t have to involve a large complicated program but it does require looking in all possible areas of the employee life cycle for those “pesky mosquitoes” that are problematic for your people. We can make a difference by shining a flashlight on how we:
- Recruit and make selection decisions
- Orient and onboard our new people
- Develop and train everyone on our team
- Provide coaching and feedback
- Review and evaluate each person
- Plan and support individual career development
- Reward and recognize contributions and engagement
One small change in how we lead and support our people can make a huge difference. Where have you built inclusiveness into any of these employee life cycle events?
Todd Thorsgaard
Well said, Todd!
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Laura, thank you for your comment. I know you can sympathize with the Minnesota mosquito buzzing. We would love to have you share your leadership development insights from your experience.
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