Equity-fluent leaders need to be expert stewards of psychological safety in order to create an environment where differences can thrive.(Photo: Shutterstock)
People of color are projected to represent more than 50% of the American population within the next 20 years — making way for a significantly more diverse workforce. As the future of work continues to rapidly evolve, company leaders must ensure they are meeting the priorities and needs of multicultural job-seekers and employees to both attract and retain key talent in the exceptionally competitive post-pandemic market.
Besides being more cause-oriented and environmentally conscious, incoming generations of talent seek equity over equality, empathy (humanity) over policy — and agility over inflexibility.
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Simply put, they value an inclusive culture and equitable experience, more than the traditional bells and whistles of unlimited PTO and office snacks. With that in mind, the need for equity-fluent leaders is paramount to the cultural and financial success of any rapidly growing organization.
"Equity Fluent leadership," a term coined by Berkley's Haas school of business, refers to leaders who understand the value of different lived experiences and courageously use their power to address barriers, increase access, and drive change for positive impact. Moreover, equity-fluent leaders need to be expert stewards of psychological safety in order to create an environment where differences can thrive.
Psychological safety is about removing fear from human interaction and replacing it with curiosity, respect and permission. It's the idea that being yourself or challenging the status quo won't negatively impact your relationships, career or self-image. Simply put, if equity fluent leadership is the vehicle through which we achieve belonging-rich spaces where collaboration is seamless and innovation can thrive, then psychological safety is the fuel that accelerates and sustains the journey. But how do organizations begin to build this muscle with an evolving and largely burnt out management population?
At Zendesk, we've built a simple and effective development experience that meets learners where they are. With the help of our newly minted digital-first principles and in partnership with global business consultant BTS Group, our inaugural "Nurturing Differences" program brings managers on a 9-week, cohort-based learning journey designed to shape hearts and minds without disrupting the flow of work. This means that participants have access to both live and asynchronous content, while also developing community with their peers through roundtable discussions and peer-to-peer coaching.
As one of the fundamental pillars of nurturing difference, relationship-building is an essential element of the program. In fact, recognizing that psychological safety has evolved into a pseudo-hackneyed buzzword within the tech industry, we've taken a fundamentalist approach to designing the experience. We introduce the concept by bridging the 6 principles of nature vs nurture:
- Physical and Emotional Wellbeing
- Healthy Nutritional Habits
- Social Development
- Attention to Medical Needs
- Cognitive Experiences
- Love & Affection
…and translating them as leadership behaviors (Building belonging rich diverse teams, adopting inclusive team norms and behaviors, developing relationships with one another, acknowledging and treating vulnerabilities, embracing curiosity and leading with empathy). By deconstructing the concept, we make it easy for our leaders to understand and digestible enough to track behavior change over time. This enables us to fine-tune the experience where we see opportunities for improvement.
Developing psychological safety, in service of equity fluent leadership, is a strategic investment that has helped us manage through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the return to office work will inevitably disrupt the equilibrium that comes from an entire team collaborating over zoom and equity fluent leaders will need to spend a great deal of time listening to the concerns of their teams and proactively addressing them with intentionality and design thinking.
The truth is that there is no perfect, one-size-fits-all solution to this next chapter of work, but transparency, vulnerability and user-centricity are essential principles for navigating change in this new way of working.
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