Diversity Through Gratitude
Survive or Thrive?
When you seek the elements that bring us all together, you find the values that help us celebrate our differences.
It’s easy to stagnate when times are uncertain. With the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic sure to echo through the next year or more, civil unrest in the streets and uncertain times drawing clearer on the horizon, it’s all too simple for a business or organization to simply circle the wagons and try to simply survive.
Survival is the easy option. But since when has the easy option ever been the right one?
Smart businesses are approaching these times with nimble footing, willing to reorganize and rededicate themselves to the mission. Not content with simply surviving, these businesses are thriving. But how?
Diversity is the Key
One of the more insidious ways that stagnation works its tendrils into an organization is through homogeneity. Everyone having the same viewpoint, the same background and the same basic philosophical underpinnings is a great way to keep the team moving in the same direction, but it is disastrous for innovation. And right now, businesses who can’t innovate are simply circling the wagons.
Breaking through this homogeneity means letting diversity flourish within your organization. This doesn’t just mean hiring for a greater variety of racial backgrounds, although that certainly should be part of it. Here we mean more diversity of thought and diversity of backgrounds. It can also mean encouraging the diverse opinions of your organization to shine through, illuminating pathways forward that you might not have otherwise seen.
One of the most effective ways to encourage this diversity is through fostering an atmosphere of gratitude. As one of the most universal constants across cultures and languages, gratitude provides a platform for real growth and appreciation between varying viewpoints.
Gratitude Can Help You Get There
It’s something I’ve seen come up again and again during the regular dinners that I’ve been hosting. We start with this group of strangers, completely disparate in terms of their personal history and culture and ask each participant to simply share a story of someone for whom they are grateful. Using that sense of gratitude as a stepping stone, we ask them to share the values that person represents. And at that point, something magical happens. We find that all these strangers, with all these different viewpoints, have much more in common than they ever knew.
People in life can become life learners and be constantly open to new ideas. Through a posture of openness any walls that were once up, fall down. The act of recognizing influential moments and people in one’s life leads to a reframing of memories, which makes way for positive actions. Sharing of gratitude also leads to creativity, which will result in nuanced innovation. By sharing gratitude and hearing others be grateful, the mind is released from any negativity and positive changes come through.
This sense of gratitude fosters not only a stronger bond between participants, it enlightens them on the value these different perspectives have to offer. It bridges their differences, showing these differences as something to be celebrated and explored. The first step in this cohesion comes by acknowledging the gratitude everyone shares.
Fostering that same fellowship in your business or organization is just a matter of bringing everyone to the table together. Creating this culture of gratitude not only fosters the diversity of thoughts and backgrounds that can drive your business forward, they offer your organization so much more.
Writing for Forbes, Kelly Siegel wrote, “A culture of gratitude… can drive productivity, employee retention, wellness and engagement. Instituting gratitude at work is something anyone can do, from front-line team members to the CEO. Gratitude is viral, so once people see appreciation catching, they are likely to jump in and keep it going.”
This is the time to foster an atmosphere of gratitude in your company, break free of the groupthink that will keep your company from moving forward and encourage your employees and clients to celebrate the varied viewpoints that make them who they are. It can be something as simple as thank you notes, or as easy as bringing everyone to the table together for one of our 7:47 Gratitude Dinners.