In preparation for opening our new office in Pensacola, I've been responsible for hiring an entire marketing team in the past month. With a new group of people in a new office comes the opportunity to establish the desired workplace culture. Because it is a one-time opportunity at the beginning of a new organization I had to reflect on what was important and what was not. Each of the 13 authorized positions have specific responsibilities but need to be a cohesive unit reinforcing our market position and plans. The results produced, however, have to be better than our competitors and preferably better than any other team in the company. Because of the modern use of the term diversity many people think of racial differences or even sexual orientation. The dictionary defines diversity as the fact or quality of being different, or a point or respect in which things differ. That opens up a much wider spectrum with not only gender, but cultural differences, religious and political beliefs, as well as what I'll call a worldview. While diversity is highly desirable, a similar worldview regarding human respect is crucial to teamwork. I believe that without exception every human being is a valuable person created by God in His image (Genesis 1:26-27) and thus possesses inherent dignity, and we are called to love and treat every person with genuine respect. Regardless of the source that each one on the team derived their belief in the worth and dignity of the individual, they all must affirm it. Critical thinking is a form of judgement that is purposeful and reflective. It gives due consideration to evidence, known facts, applicable methods and knowledge of societal pressures. We want to make fact based decisions in our business, so logic avoiding bias, prejudice, propaganda, and distortion is desirable. We also want teamwork, a cohesive, well integrated marketing group presenting a united front to promote unity. A risk is groupthink, where members try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing and evaluating ideas. The key to these potentially opposing concepts is what I'll call celebrating diversity. Sometimes people fear that if they accept someone or something different, that they are approving. Diversity isn't approval of the differences, it is the acceptance and understanding of the differences with respect given to the person. Many times people refer to tolerance, but that is just tolerating or putting up with the differences, rather than investigating them. Human respect (Romans 5:17) should be given to all people of all age groups so that constructive conversation is possible.
The real value of diverse beliefs, personalities, cultures, genders, upbringing, and perceptions comes from that constructive conversation. If everyone lived the same way, had the same opinions, and looked at the world the same way, the same risk that groupthink causes would take place. It's the discussion that prompts research, factual review, and improves the decision process (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). The potential for conflict is elevated when there are differing strong opinions about any subject. To mitigate that potential, hiring quality, open-minded humans that are diverse in as many ways as possible, while finding track records of successful experience has been very challenging. I've read an enormous number of applications and resumes and interviewed dozens of people. It's similar to putting a puzzle together in that the various shapes have to fit together to reveal the true picture, but more like a 3-D version.
In the January 2006 version of this blog I wrote on the subject of offending and being offended. I'll repeat a key line from that issue: Demonstrate respect and civility in the discussion that is so crucial to our critical thinking. Political correctness has devastated the ability of large parts of our population to challenge the status quo without being rude or having it perceived as a personal attack. It has been my experience that the more intelligent someone is the harder it is for them to consider points of view that differ from their own. As I strive to hire the best it is obvious I've hired a group of intelligent people, so this culture of respect takes on a new level of importance (Proverbs 24: 5-6). Working with 20 somethings and caring for elderly widows the past couple years has provided insights into age groups of people that I wouldn't normally socialize with. My Tampa Toastmasters club with a majority of members from India has been helpful in the same way. I can be more persuasive about my point of view when I've taken the time to understand theirs. I also open the possibility that my point of view can change with added input, but with a caveat that it could change with false information so research is required. Even my training in servant leadership through a decade as a Deacon prepared me for this task.
I've described our future office culture as relaxed intensity. It's important to me that we are principled, consistent, disciplined, and communicate clearly in simple language. Each person was hired with my belief that they are capable of being developed and promoted to the next level, (1st Thessalonians 5:11) which puts pressure on me to provide that path to career success. Tony Dungy, coach of the Indianapolis Colts football team, wrote a book titled "Quiet Strength". It was important to him that they win the Super Bowl the right way. When results were less than expected they didn't question their strategy, they worked on their execution. As he wrote for those situations, they would do what they do, but better. It is an excellent book and he read the audio version himself. I was inspired to that same type of leadership role, that has a larger worldview than the business at hand. We won't do a large number of innovative things, but we will do well what we do. When our Vice President hired me he wisely engineered the culture of accountability by allowing me to recruit, hire, train, and develop the team that will determine our marketing success. By choosing the diverse group I've chosen I'm striving for life success as well. This entry marks my third complete year of sharing my insights each month. I pray they help you as much as they have helped me.
