In the 80s and 90s, I built a career in an industrialized, male-dominated Fortune 500 company as a woman and a minority. My success was the result of two coaches; without them I would not have made it. What set them apart? Even though they were of the same gender and ethnicity as the majority, they were always willing to keep an open mind and check their assumptions about me.
The working world today has become even more diverse. This impacts teamwork, retention, hiring, and glass ceiling issues. Relative to teamwork, there is mounting evidence that what determines productivity and success is not just WHO is on the team, but HOW they work together.
So, inclusion matters. With retention, individuals are no longer willing to tolerate feeling like outsiders and will leave to look for a more compatible company culture. With hiring and the glass ceiling, if the people at the top all look alike, chances are there are issues with who is being promoted and many people will question the glossy hiring-brochure rhetoric!
So how can we create inclusion through coaching? Each of us has a way in which we view the world based on biological, cultural, and social lenses. These lenses determine how we view and judge people every day and is the source of our biases, both positive and negative.
Coaches need to check their assumptions about their coachee and keep checking judgmental thoughts and actions that are NOT fact-based. This is especially true if the individual you are coaching is very different from you in gender and/or ethnicity.
The coach needs to learn more about the individual as a person and not a stereotype. Also, since coaching involves development, the coach should ensure the coachee learns to do the same thing and becomes a more effective team member.
Here are three ways in which a coach can be more effective in creating inclusion:
1. Walk in the shoes of your coachee; check your own biases and keep listening with an open mind.
2. Be willing to challenge the coachee’s assumptions if you hear judgmental or non-inclusive language.
3. Enjoy the uniqueness of each human being and ask yourself how you can build on their strengths.
We are all as unique as snowflakes. Good coaching enables inclusion by being cognizant of this fact.