Our Differences Can Make the Difference
A lesson from Lincoln for building effective teams in turbulent times
“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” — Roms 12:16
According to an article on Mind Tools, a career learning hub, having “strong relationships” is one of 10 ways to develop resilience. The developments in the past few months in Afghanistan, where I work, helped put this point into perspective. My network of family, friends and former colleagues showed a great deal of care with well-wish messages on seeing the news about Afghanistan. Knowing the people in my network care about my well being was comforting. But one question was prominent at the end of those conversations.
How are you managing the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent political developments in your business?
The simple answer to managing in turbulent times is to have a strong, resilient and agile team. There is no doubt we are going through a turbulent time across the world. We are witnessing an increase in civil unrest, a looming energy crisis, wars and natural disasters. Leaders of governments and companies need strong and effective teams to help them navigate these troubled waters. But what does that mean?
To evaluate the most effective, I reflected on all the teams I worked with during my 24 years career from Sierra Leone to Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. The team in Tanzania stood out for me. We achieved an incredible business turnaround on the road to attaining market leadership. Of all the teams I have worked with, Tanzania had the most diversity. The team members came from Canada, India, Kenya, Paraguay, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. This diversity ensured we benefitted from a deep well of experience in the industry.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and the author of the best-selling book, Team Of Rivals, said about forming a team to lead in turbulent times.
“Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation.”
Goodwin captures Abraham Lincoln’s blueprint for building a diverse team during, possibly America’s darkest history. It was no surprise that Barak Obama referenced Team Of Rivals when asked how he would form his government (team). Goodwin chronicled how Lincoln appointed three of his harshest rivals into his cabinet, who became his trusted allies. The 15 Presidents before him built cabinets of like-minded individuals. But during the difficult time of Lincoln’s presidency, he needed a cabinet made up of the best people for the job irrespective of their affiliation, background or differences. To lead in difficult times, leaders must move from having a homogeneous to one that is diverse. A paradigm shift John C Maxwell calls the “improvement shift.”
“Our differences can make a positive difference.” — John C Maxwell
My mum deliberately taught me to embrace people who do not look, talk, think or pray like me. And this lesson has helped me thrive in the diverse cultures where I have had the pleasure to work.
But leaders avoid diversity because they are afraid of conflict, lack an extensive network, fear dealing with their prejudices, are arrogant, feel insecure and are not inclusive. “Diversity is uncomfortable.”
As Lincoln showed, to successfully form a team of different-minded people, leaders must empathise, show compassion and honesty. These three qualities will enable a leader to get the best out of a diverse team if they take the following five steps.
1) Establish common goals and interests. No individual interest should be above that of the group. Not doing so will undermine the success of the team.
2) Focus on overcoming external challenges. Avoid internal conflicts and rivalry while focusing the team’s energy on external forces and factors.
3) Encourage different perspectives. Seek collaboration over internal competition.
4) Foster healthy conflict. A healthy conflict “produces the best possible solution in the shortest period of time,” says Patrick Lencioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
5) Build resilience and agility. Develop strong connections within and outside the team, make room to learn from mistakes and be flexible and adaptable.
Three key advantages of a diverse team will help leaders and their organisations deal with the complexities, uncertainties, and risks of managing in turbulent times such as what we are experiencing worldwide today. According to John C Maxwell, the advantages are:
1) Filling the knowledge gap — this team will broaden the knowledge base within the group. For every difficult situation, we always find at least one member who knows possible solutions.
2) Filling the perspective gap — diversity breeds independent thinking, which brings various perspectives towards a problem.
3) Filling the experience gap — no two experiences will be the same. Hence the more diverse the group, the broader the experience pool. We pull experience from at least 10 different experiences in our team when we tackle any new challenge.
“Our differences really can make a difference in our teams, our organisations and our individual lives. Once we find common ground and commit to bringing the best out of people who are diverse, good things will begin to happen.”
I truly believe this team dynamic is helping us successfully manage under the current circumstances in Afghanistan.
Book recommendations
Here are two book recommendations on building diverse teams:
a) Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln — by Doris Kearns Goodwin
b) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable — by Patrick Lencioni
Here are three quotes to help you embrace diversity to foster productive teamwork.
“Diversity is the art of thinking independently together” — Malcolm Forbes
“We are building products that people with very diverse backgrounds use, and I think we all want our company makeup to reflect the makeup of the people who use our products” — Sheryl Sandberg
“When we listen and celebrate what is both common and different, we become wiser, more inclusive, and better as an organisation.” — Pat Wadors
