As leaders in today’s organizations, it’s crucial to understand that our teams are made up of individuals with diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. It’s easy to overlook the perspectives of employees from non-dominant culture backgrounds when we’re not intentionally seeking out their voices. However, doing so can create significant blind spots in our organizations that affect culture, productivity, and even the bottom line.

In this blog post, I will explore the issue of organizational executives failing to see and be responsive to employees from unrepresented backgrounds and the role that cultural humility and mindfulness can play in addressing these issues.

The Problem of Blind Spots

It’s not uncommon for leaders to create a culture that’s unintentionally exclusionary to employees from non-dominant culture backgrounds. This is often because they’re not aware of the unique challenges that these employees face or don’t fully understand the value that diversity brings to the organization. When leaders fail to recognize and address these issues, it can lead to employees feeling alienated and unheard, which can result in decreased engagement, productivity, and even turnover. Worse, it creates an incongruence between claims of commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity and the reality employees face daily from the organization and its culture.

For example, a leader may unknowingly create an environment that’s more accommodating to the dominant culture, such as only celebrating holidays that are significant to that culture. The organizational leaders may privilege conversations around common experiences not familiar or available to those outside of that shared cultural background. This may make employees from non-dominant culture backgrounds feel left out and undervalued. Additionally, leaders may overlook the impact of microaggressions on these employees, such as assuming that an employee speaks a certain language or has a certain cultural background based on their appearance.

Are we aware of people in our lives who question whether their employer is an organization where they belong?

The Importance of Cultural Humility

Cultural humility is a concept that involves acknowledging one’s own limitations in understanding another culture and being open to learning from individuals from different cultural backgrounds. It’s a mindset that emphasizes the importance of listening and learning from those who have experiences that differ from our own. This approach is especially important for leaders who are trying to create a more inclusive culture.

Leaders who practice cultural humility are more likely to seek out diverse perspectives and value the unique experiences of each team member. They recognize that they don’t have all the answers and that there’s always more to learn. By adopting a mindset of cultural humility, leaders can build stronger relationships with their team members and create a more inclusive culture.

The Role of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is another tool that leaders can use to address blind spots and create a more inclusive culture. Mindfulness involves being present and fully engaged in the moment, without judgment. By cultivating mindfulness, leaders can become more aware of their own biases and blind spots, which can help them to be more intentional in their actions and decisions.

For example, a leader who is practicing mindfulness may notice when they’re making assumptions about an employee based on their appearance, culture, nationality, or even where a colleague received their degrees. They may then take a step back and ask themselves why they’re making those assumptions and whether they’re accurate. By being more mindful in their interactions with employees, leaders can create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone.

Cultivating mindfulness is creating the gap between the auto-pilot we are all usually operating under and the opportunity to consciously choose how we want to show up. This opportunity to consciously choose is the great differentiator especially for those leaders seeking to intentionally create a thriving and inclusive organizational culture.

Mindfulness may also lead to developing higher levels of compassion because we are able to create space and recognize that our auto-pilot version of the world is absolutely subjective, and we begin to recognize our interconnectedness as humans. At the very least, mindfulness creates space for curiosity which is key for leaders who commit to a practice of cultural humility

Practical Steps for Leaders

So, what can leaders do to address blind spots and create a more inclusive culture? Here are a few practical steps that leaders can take:

1. Listen to employees from diverse backgrounds: One of the most important things that leaders can do is to listen to employees from diverse backgrounds. Ask questions, seek out feedback, and be open to learning from their experiences.
2. Create opportunities for dialogue: Create opportunities for team members to share their perspectives and experiences with one another. This can be done through team-building activities, diversity training, or other initiatives.
3. Practice cultural humility: Adopt a mindset of cultural humility and be open to learning from team members who have experiences that differ from your own.
4. Be mindful: Practice mindfulness in your interactions with team members, and be aware of your own biases and blind spots.
5. Take action: Finally, take action to address. Inaction communicates an action to those affected. If there is no change, it reinforces the subjective experience of those outside of the dominant culture. Practice the principles above and any commitment to equity and inclusion on a daily basis. Hold accountability when there is incongruence between the words committing to an inclusive culture and what actually shows up.

Tell me in the comments or let me know in social media if this resonates. Are colleagues from under-represented / non-dominant culture feeling seen and included? How can you show up differently and practice being the leader you would like for your organization and for your colleagues?