Beth Clark, a Diversity Consultant and a motivational speaker, ended her talk to Central Rotarians last Wednesday with just one sentence which summed up a complicated subject.
“Let’s all just get along,” she said.
She talked about diversity across cultural divides that can involve gender, race, religion, or background. Companies, she said, need to get into the world view of the minority in their culture, whatever it may be.
“We have to expand our world view to encompass and understand differences. If we don’t,” she said “it’s going to make a big impact on the bottom line. We really need to understand fundamental differences and learn to speak each other’s language.”
Focusing on gender diversity, she said the biggest predictor of change is what’s going on in the workplace particularly now that more and more women are moving into executive positions.
In general, each sex hones a skill set to take into adulthood. Boys are more competitive, have a “win-lose” attitude and banter with each other in a way that girls would find offensive. Girls, on the other hand, are more sensitive and collaborative.
The new generation of organization leaders is realizing that team building is important and companies are moving into team structures. The fundamental differences in the ways people communicate are being studied with linguists taking a look at communication skills.
“Ask, don’t tell, is a good rule to follow in communicating,” she said. “It helps us all to get along.”
For more information about diversity training and other services available from Ms. Clark you can visit the website www.allegrotraining.com.
