Philippa Reed, the Chief Executive of the Equal Employment
Opportunities Trust (EEO), kindly invited Sarah and me to attend
their inaugural Diversity Day at the end of August. And what a day
that was. Wonderful, thought-provoking speakers challenged us to
really think through the importance of accepting and celebrating
diversity in modern workplaces. Even the hard nosed, non-pc
participants couldn't argue with the business case of taking
diversity seriously by the end of the day - but more on that
later.
As I was sitting there, listening to these amazing speakers and
enjoying the opportunity to take part in this event, I was also
thinking of you, our members, and how I could share my experiences
of the day with you. And then the right angle struck me! It was:
networking as a vehicle to bring greater diversity into our
individual lives.
On Networking
My close colleagues and friends are probably bored to tears by
my going on (and on and on) about the importance of networking. I
am new to networking, you see. In my first few roles I was never
encouraged to take part in networking events; in fact I think it
was almost frowned upon. When I had my big corporate role, I was
also a mum and then it was a matter of not wanting to take time
away from my family to take part in these events.
I have given some thought to why professionals like lawyers,
consultants and accountants are somewhat reluctant to network. I
believe it is to do with the charging-by-the-hour model we are
socialised into. Basically, it ain't work unless it's
chargeable!
Now, that Sarah and I are building a new business, which is all
about networking (albeit online), we have been doing a considerable
amount of it. And, it works, it really does. The more we put
ourselves out there, the more we build relationships and new and
exciting opportunities turn up (like our recent partnership with
Quiet Agent). What we're also seeing is that those people who take
the time to network, are the ones who find out or are approached
about opportunities, simply because they become a known quantity
and build their personal brand in the process.
On Diversity
I have to admit I hadn't given diversity as such a great deal of
thought before this EEO Trust event. But as I listened to the
speakers the business case for diversity became abundantly clear to
me. What really struck me was how bringing diversity into our own
individual lives is extremely relevant and can increase our
resilience and our prospects as individuals.
Diversity and Innovation
The first speaker of the day was Frans Johansson, the author of
the Medici Effect. In a nutshell, Frans's book and his speaking
illustrate powerfully how diversity breeds innovation. His messages
were clear and engagingly simple:
1. All new ideas are really combinations of existing ones - but to
become a new idea the combination has to be unique.
2. The single strongest correlation to innovation success is the
number of new ideas generated and pursued.
3. Cultural diversity is the lowest hanging fruit when it comes to
driving innovation.
Frans's examples illustrated his case beautifully. The one that
stuck with me is that of L'Oreal's acquisition of SoftSheen, a
small haircare manufacturer in the US which focused on the African
American market. L'Oreal is a French company that according to
Johansson makes a point of employing a wide range of ethnicities
and is deliberate about encouraging cultural diversity. As a case
in point, at the time of the Softsheen acquisition, L'Oreal was run
by a British man!!
Armed with a new research lab to investigate the properties of
African-American hair and the insight that a billion people outside
the US had this hairtype, L'Oreal quickly became the leader in this
ethnic haircare category.
Collaborative workplaces
To get ideas flowing people actually need to talk to each other.
According to Alan Bertenshaw from Matisse, the futuristic workplace
environment is all about encouraging people to talk to each other
and collaborate as part of their working lives. Gone will be the
days you'll have to book a meeting room three days in advance so
that you can have a conversation with your boss.
His thesis was that the modern workplace is designed to
"encourage accidental bumping and fortuitus encounters." It is
these encounters that will increase productivity, cross functional
communication and yes you guessed it, diversity of thoughts ideas
and experiences.
By this stage, I was convinced, and I realised that for me as an
individual, it was through networking that I have brought diversity
into my life. In less than a year I have quadrupled my personal
network. I did this through being open to people's ideas and
suggestions, seeking new people out and welcoming new approaches.
In the process, I have discovered how energising and supportive
some people are which has made me re-evaluate who I spend my time
with and why.
Yes, there are times when I feel I should be doing chargeable
work rather than meeting people or corresponding via e-mail. But
when I look back, it is through that persistence on valuing
networking that we've had the biggest and most personally
gratifying breaks.
Finally, the case for networking as a vehicle for bringing
diversify to our personal life was sealed for me during the
presentation on resilience given by Dr Sven Hansen from
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Diversity and Resilience
I am not going to attempt to re-cap Sven's presentation on
engaging resilience to build vitality. But what really stuck with
me was that resilience is 100% learnt. Resilient people bounce back
from set-backs; have a bias for action and wide and diverse
networks. His acid test was how many people are there on our cell
phones who we could call tonight if we needed support. What he also
emphasised, was to be honest about how many of them are not our
immediate colleagues.
There was, of course, much more to the day. But as I listened to
it all, I became more and more excited about the concept that we as
individuals don't need to wait for our workplace to do encourage
diversity for us. We can do it ourselves in a very deliberate
way.
Now, I don't think that all networking opportunities are created
equal. However, as Sarah has been heard to comment, you can't
predict which approach will lead to the big payoff - but they all
have the potential to bring something, sometime. We'd add here that
we see giving as an important part of networking; we always try to
look for what we can bring to the other person. What goes around
will eventually come around.
What we can and should always do, is be open to the prospect of
meeting and engaging with new people who we might not normally seek
out. In the end, it is through these encounters that we might come
up with the next big idea/career move, find ways to implement it
and meet our new best friend in the process!
© Professionelle Limited 2007