5 Habits of Highly Inclusive Managers
In my own journey as a manager of D&I, I often question whether or not I am doing this right. Did I make the right decision? Is my vision going to come to fruition? How do I provide constructive feedback to someone on my team? These intrusive cognitions are often exacerbated by my field of choice. As a person who consults other leaders and teams on inclusive cultures, its imperative that I role model inclusive people management at all times. Coupling these feelings of imposter syndrome with being a young, black woman in the workplace can feel like a lot to carry. Indeed, conversations I have with other managers who identify as womxn of color in the workplace often yield similar sentiments. As I grow in my journey of becoming the best manager I can be, I wanted to share some tips on what has worked well for me.
Habit One: Prioritize one-on-ones as a time to connect.
In a world of rapidly approaching deadlines, high turnover, and copious amounts of work, lengthy one-on-ones may seem like a lofty goal. However, I’ve found that maintaining a consistent touch point each week has done wonders to build camaraderie and productivity. My teams’ one-on-ones are structured in a way for us to gain updates on current work projects, as well as build trust and connectivity. The weekly meetings typically last 30 minutes to an hour depending on the role of the individual, and serve as a way for us to better understand where we are in that moment.
To begin, we start with a warm-up prompt, like what sorts of charities we would love to start, or who our ideal celebrity would be to have dinner with. These, in addition to my temperature check exercise, allows me to get to know the human behind the professional. The temperature check exercise is where we assess where we fall on a psychological spectrum (Green: Thriving, Yellow: Unsettled, Orange: Struggling, Red: In Crisis) and provide context on which particular work projects or inter-personal situations are informing that. For example, last week I said that I was ‘yellow’ or ‘unsettled’ due to an additional project our team was just assigned . Sharing that helped my teammate gain a deeper understanding of where I was mentally, and we were able to brainstorm ways to alleviate some of my concerns.
The final part of our one-on-one connectivity exercises include a discussion of our professional development goals for the month. These goals can be small or large, but as long as they are specific and measurable, actively working towards them tends to be beneficial. During the meeting we outline our progress in achieving said goals, help each other advance towards them, and share which particular skill set or learning opportunity we want to pursue next. Finding time to discuss professional development goals each week helps underscore my commitment to my teams’ development, and provides me with an opportunity to help them in their career trajectory.
Habit Two: Employ Inclusive language.
Words matter. And because words matter, I try my best to use my words carefully. In particular, I never use “I” language when referring to the work products my team and I have produced. Instead, I use “we” language. Though using ‘we’ language has been shown by researchers to be a sign of status in an organization ( Individuals with lower status tend to use “I” and higher status individuals are significantly more likely to use “we”) it is also a way for you as a manager to demonstrate how much you value the collective efforts of your team. Using “we” language underscores mutually shared goals and successes, builds camaraderie, feelings belonging, and enhances psychological safety. In this way, using “we” language to discuss all of your team’s successes, and failures, is a best practice we can all learn from.
Habit Three: Stretch, Stretch, Stretch!
One of the first things I did when I came to UT Southwestern was ask those on my team to complete a personal user manual, as well as a personal productivity style quiz. A personal user manual is a great way for team members to share their individual preferences for how they like to collaborate and communicate. In addition, personal user manuals allow for those on your team to quickly build connections and trust while also learning how to support each other doing their best work. On the other hand, a personal productivity assessment is designed to help you understand your own personal work style. The assessment provides tips on how to optimize your work productivity based on your personal productivity archetype.
The aforementioned tools helped my team learn how to work with one another, and how to support each other bringing our full, authentic selves to the workplace. During these moments where we shared our personal user manuals we also identified what our career goals were. It was critical for me to know this information from my teammates early on, so that I could encourage them to work on different stretch assignments. Stretch assignments afford employees an opportunity to gain direct work experience on a task that is outside of their comfort zone or regular routine. In doing so they learn valuable skills, get to network with other individuals in the organization, and gain visibility. Importantly, stretch assignments give employees room to grow, as well as help employees overcome their self-doubt.
Habit Four: Be Mindful When Addressing Conflict.
Addressing conflict in a workplace setting is tough. Addressing conflict when it is on your own team is even more difficult. In order to address this, our Division has created an Inclusive Team-building worksop to help teams get back on the right path. This 2-hour inclusive team building provides teams with the opportunity to assess their workplace environment and collaborate on an inclusive path forward. The workshop is based on the empirical and conceptual frameworks of B.R.A.V.I.N.G, workplace civility, connecting across difference, unconscious bias, and growth mindset. We combine data, self-reflection, group activities, case studies, video, and goal-setting to create an engaging and interactive training session.
In addition to this, our Division has also created a guidebook to walk conflict mediation facilitators through a four part process to engage in courageous conversations that surround issues of diversity and inclusion. This workbook can also be tailored to one-on-one conversations, empowering all employees with the ability to have safe and effective conversations without the help of a moderator. I encourage managers to review the resources our team has created, and adapt them to fit their own organizational and team culture.
Habit Five: Look in the mirror.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I often question and doubt myself as a manager. I don’t view this as a weakness, however, but necessary for my growth. If I sense there was a disconnect or miscommunication during a meeting, I’ll follow-up with a one-on-one to dig deeper. If I sense there is some tension or fracturing among team members, I’ll intervene. I actively encourage those on my team to discuss my shortcomings and areas of opportunity, and provide them with a space where they can feel comfortable to do so without fear of retaliation.
One of the strategies I use to build empathy with my teammates in moments of conflict or confusion is to try to take the vantage point of the other person and ask myself: What exact words did I use when interacting with this person? What was my tone? Did I send negative non-verbal cues? Was the decision I made via consensus or was it top-down? Have I consistently exhibited this type of behavior towards this one person? If you’re not yet comfortable with this level of introspection, don’t know where to start, or your team does not already have this level of engagement, consider implementing an anonymous suggestion box and allowing your team to provide feedback that way.
It is critical for every manager’s personal evolution as a better leader, and a better person, to look themselves in the mirror, ask tough questions, and solicit feedback. This can be particularly challenging when you feel you are doing the best you can. However, there is always room for growth. When processing critical feedback I suggest relying on your support system, whether that be friends, family, or colleagues at other companies who can uplift you. I often rely on my network of womxn of color managers in the workplace to provide me guidance, and rally around me when I’m feeling low. Other forms of wellness techniques include listening to your favorite music, exercising, or tuning in to your favorite podcast. In addition to the aforementioned, I take measured and proactive steps towards my professional development by using several of the self-assessment tools highlighted in this Harvard Business Review article, and I encourage you to do so as well.
