This article was originally published in Inside CHRO Summer 2022 Issue 2

Where is DEIA now, and how far has it to go?

In the past, we had a certain dominant view of what culture was, and by extension, what the right behaviors were.

But we’re starting to understand there isn’t just one right way to do things. We’re starting to see a rich diversity in how people are wired; in the ways they have lived their lives; what experiences they’ve had, and, by extension, how they show up at work.

The dominant idea today is to put people in boxes, based on their sociodemographic identity. Here’s how to engage with women, with Blacks, with Asians, with LGBTQIA+ employees, etc. The intention is to create human-centered organizations where everyone feels respected and welcomed.

But this approach of putting people into sociodemographic boxes, I suggest, is doomed to fail. Because it directs you to learn 12 different checklists for how to engage with 12 different groups – here’s what you should say, here’s what you shouldn’t say, and so on. And new groups we should be mindful of are emerging every day. The reality is, there’s only so much information an individual can soak in and master.

A second limitation of this approach is that people do not actually fit neatly into boxes. As an Asian-American, do I think and feel and behave like all Asian-Americans? Are my values the same as every other Asian-American? That’s a real stretch. And the same is true of these other boxes – there’s a lot of variety in the kinds of people in there.

What we need to do instead is honor each individual for who they are. Remove them from the box, and see them for their unique self. In fact, the same individual may be different from one day to the next. Between the last time you met them and today, perhaps they’ve had a serious illness in the family, or celebrated their daughter’s wedding, or just come out of a very upsetting meeting. So how can you assume this individual is exactly where they were in life the last time you saw them? How do we approach a framework that addresses the individual? We can do this by tuning in to the people we are interacting with, moment by moment. What are they feeling, and what are they thinking? What do they value? What beliefs and motivations are likely fuelling their actions? This requires us to be 100% present in our interactions. So, we pay attention to people’s tone of voice, facial expressions, and choice of words.

How do we approach a framework that addresses the individual?

We can do this by tuning in to the people we are interacting with, moment by moment. What are they feeling, and what are they thinking? What do they value? What beliefs and motivations are likely fuelling their actions?

This requires us to be 100% present in our interactions. So, we pay attention to people’s tone of voice, facial expressions, and choice of words.

“You are expected to feel obligated to learn everything about a marginalized group, of which new ones are emerging every day.“

We must approach every moment with a sense of curiosity – what mood is this other individual in, how receptive are they to the ideas I’m sharing, is something holding them back, what can I do to make them feel more comfortable in this team?

How can leaders move beyond that traditional model to take on a more effective and sustainable alternative?

My research at Columbia Business School and the Mentora Institute is focused on helping leaders develop a much broader lens for how to understand and respond to the humanity in their people – by not just examining what people say, but what their intentions might be, what values are informing their position. What their personal story is.

Leaders need to get to know their people from the inside-out. They need to develop an “inner map” of the people they work with. What have been the defining moments in my colleague’s life? What values do they get most stirred by? What is their big dream in life? What’s the mood they are in right now, and what may be driving that? What mindset is influencing their response?

And similarly for an audience. What’s top of mind for my audience right now? Is there more than one sentiment present among the people in this room? What’s going to make them inspired, and what’s going to make them most comfortable in this conversation?

Once you’ve attuned yourself to people from the inside-out, you can walk away from all the checklists the experts may give you and approach interactions in a more nuanced way. You can then be guided by your own best judgement in the moment, once you’ve gathered an accurate reading of the room.

How practical is it for leaders to master your new approach for dealing with the human equation at work?

That’s been one of our key obsessions at Mentora Institute – to make human-centered leadership very practical to achieve. After fifteen years of research and innovation on this topic, the key we have found is to help leaders learn to win their inner game before they play their outer game.

This inner game is won when a leader learns to focus on their five Core energies: the energy of Purpose, which gets us to strive to create a sense of energized action around a common objective; the energy of Wisdom, which is about calmly engaging the intellect to find the truth; the energy of Growth, which recognizes that we always have the opportunity to move beyond our struggles of the past to grow and learn and improve; the energy of Love, which recognizes we are all connected and should therefore take joy in other peoples’ joy; and finally, the energy of Self-realization, which recognizes the human spirit at the core of our being.

“This model makes us tune ourselves to the inner variables driving a person’s behavior – the five Energies that lie at their core.“

Once you have activated these energies, then in any situation, you do not need a scripted checklist to follow. Instead, you’re evaluating, in every moment, “Do I need to activate Purpose, or Love, or Wisdom…?”

We’ve discovered that along each of these five Core Energies there are roughly 5-10 archetypal actions that you see repeated in all acts of great leadership: in having a difficult conversation; inspiring someone; trust-building, etc. These Core actions can be used, like building blocks, to construct whatever behaviors you need in the moment. Each action typically takes 5-10 seconds to execute – so they are really simple to learn, and simple to execute.

By moving from one action to the next, you become more adaptable. You sense the dynamics between you and the other party and then add the next building block – the action – you need to take the interaction in the right direction. Repeating the process every 5-10 seconds – what am I sensing from their facial expressions; why was there a pause in the conversation with that topic; what should my next action be? As you master these simple actions, you cultivate a skillset that allows you to bring out the best in all people and all situations – and that, to me, is the true practice of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Forging a better world requires a more nuanced approach from us than what today’s checklists and frameworks offer. It requires us to activate the five Core energies across our organization. This was, for example, how Nelson Mandela led. He saw an effulgent spirit even within his jailers, when they had him handcuffed and imprisoned, and he sought to activate that potential in them, through actions that expressed Purpose, Wisdom, Growth, Love and Self-realization. Later, upon his release from prison, he sought to do this in all South Africans as he led the country to a peaceful transition from apartheid rule to a democracy. He was an ordinary person who ascended to extraordinary leadership. So can we.

This article was originally published in Inside CHRO Summer 2022 Issue 2