Héctor Colón Article for Milwaukee Business Journal
June 16, 2020
Racial injustices, such as the murder of George Floyd, often lead to discussions about equity, diversity and inclusion. Well-intended business leaders change policies, develop affinity groups, and require training. Research literature demonstrates that these traditional workplace programs do not significantly achieve intended goals.
At LSS, we look to Servant Leadership and Larry Spears’ ”Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders” for inspiration. This article offers ideas on how to enhance your program with five of these characteristics: Awareness, Listening, Healing, Empathy and Commitment to the Growth of people.
Awareness involves understanding individual strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, and biases. The better you know yourself, the better you can foster meaningful connections with others. Self-awareness is foundational to authentic relationships requiring meaningful dialogue and a willingness to grow and change.
To create an environment that encourages awareness for others, self-reflect on your own personal behaviors and biases and make a commitment to learn about how to change them for the better.
Listening includes actively receiving someone’s words, feelings and body language. In order to discover and meet the needs of others, we need to listen rather than mandate a top down approach to solutions for all.
Co-create a diverse and inclusive environment with your employees through active listening and asking questions. Reach outside of your organization for help with facilitating these meaningful conversations
Through open dialogue, listening and awareness, you can hear when a person needs to heal from past hurts. Without healing, wounds and scars might resurface unless addressed.
Find your safe places and people with whom you can share your wounds and scars. Then work to create a trustworthy environment for employees that offers healing and opportunities to become their best selves.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another without judgement. It expresses awareness of what it’s like to live in the shoes of others and offer support to aid in their healing.
Find ways to connect with others that have faced experiences different from your own. You can show empathy by expressing a desire to know someone more deeply so you can better understand their challenges and pain.
When addressing a commitment to the growth of people, Servant-Leader Founder Robert Greenleaf shares the following: “Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And what is the effect on the least privileged in society…?”
Employees will know of your commitment to their growth when you choose to self-reflect, actively listen, make space for healing and show empathy. Putting others’ interests before your own will help unleash the greatness of individuals, your organization and the community at large.
A Servant Leadership approach develops a culture over compliance, awareness over assumptions, and leadership over legislation. Join me in this movement to respond to the racial and ethnic disparities that exist in our society today.