How to Leverage Trust to Strengthen Inclusion

Conflict Doesn’t Need to Be a Dirty Word
How to Leverage Trust to Strengthen Inclusion Across Your Organization

By: David Robert, Chief Strategy Officer

During a leadership development program, I asked a group of managers to shout out the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the word conflict. The response was immediate. “Argument,” said one manager. “Unresolved and fighting,” said another. I frantically jotted down the responses on a flipchart as they were shared. After a few minutes, the voices in the room quieted and I took a moment to reflect on the collective terms. Disagreement, tension, combative, screaming, and even war was mentioned.

 I asked the managers to weigh in on what they noticed about their knee-jerk reaction to the word conflict. “They’re all negative,” said one participant. “Exactly!” I replied. “When we think about conflict, abrasive images immediately pop into our head.” I quickly widened my stance and lifted up my arms to form a boxing posture. “It’s as if we hear the word and immediately prepare ourselves for battle,” I added. “Isn’t it curious why we don’t more often associate positive terms to the word conflict, such as collaboration and innovation.”

I share that story because it is a perfect example of why people struggle with conflict. When we assign a negative emotion to the term, we are far more likely to avoid it. Why would anyone want to intentionally invite something negative into their life, right? So, it shouldn’t be surprising to leaders why their organization might have difficulty encouraging disagreement and critical debate as a way to unearth new ways of tackling the work.

As an organizational development practitioner, I am constantly considering ways to talk about conflict with our clients so that they can understand the broad implications of not shifting the mindset related to conflict and its impact on individuals, teams and the organization. I keep coming back to two concepts: Trust and Inclusion.

As the former CEO of Great Place to Work (Middle East), a firm focused on workplace culture, I spent a considerable amount of time examining trust. What trust is, how it’s created, how it’s diminished and, most importantly, how it can be leveraged to benefit the organization. More recently, as part of my Diversity & Inclusion program at Cornell University, I’ve been reflecting on the link between trust and inclusion. Specifically, I have been examining the degree to which a lack of trust adversely impacts an organization’s effort to foster inclusion. I think it’s safe to say that generally speaking most people understand how trust is threatened: I don’t have confidence you’ll follow through. Your words and actions are not aligned. You’re unpredictable. However, I don’t think it’s widely understood the more subtle ways in which trust can be threatened, and the implication on inclusion.   

Take for example the use of high potential, high performer, or subject matter expert as employee descriptors. These are commonly used phrases and are not harmful per say. However, if a select group of employees are consistently told they have high potential, could that inherently cause those employees to segment their team members based on perceived competence? And if so, could that in turn suppress the voices and perspectives of those who have not been classified as such because it’s implied that the best solution or perspective can only be found among those who have been classified as having some distinguished level of competence or expertise. Many of us know that this hypothesis is simply not true, and it both contradicts the notion of fostering a truly inclusive workplace culture and diminishes trust across an organization. Innovative organizations need everyone’s perspective to be considered, not just the perspective of a few, even if those perspectives are at odds. This is just one example, but it does illustrate a subtle way in which a common practice could, in fact, work against an inclusive environment.

To spark some ideas and critical thinking, I’ve pulled together a few things to consider as it relates to trust and inclusion.

·      During a decision-making process, ask for input from the non-experts first. This way, you’re more likely to get a wider range of perspectives rather than the non-experts feeling compelled to validate those with more experience.

·      Avoid outwardly classifying someone as high potential or high performer. We know that high potential and high performance are contextual, and everyone has high potential if they are in the right role or are engaged in the right work.

·      Don’t underestimate the power of encouraging people to share personal stories. The more we know about each other’s backgrounds and personal stories, the greater the likelihood you’ll be creating a safe environment for people to share ideas and perspectives.

·      At the beginning of your team meetings, make sure the light chit-chat is not dominated by one sub-group of the team. A perfect example of this is a team that has a large portion of its members who are sports fans. If the casual talk during meetings focuses exclusively on sports and there are some team members who don’t share that same interest, it can quickly create the “in” group and the “out” group, which may inadvertently send a message that the “out” group’s interests are not as important.

·      Be willing to be vulnerable with your team. We all possess biases and if we are honest with ourselves and our team that although we can’t completely remove those biases, we can certainly commit to implementing programs and policies that counteract them.

·      Allow your mindset to broaden. Conversations that may have seemed too intrusive in the past may be exactly what we should be embracing today. When we inquire with authentic curiosity and good intention, we set the stage for a safe place to discuss almost anything. If conflict emerges, consider it an opportunity for learning and collaboration.

 I’d love to hear what others are contemplating or doing to build trust and foster an inclusive workplace culture. And, of course, if you would like to talk to us about your organization’s workplace culture, you can call us anytime.