How do we build bridges across culture differences?
In an era where the global workforce includes employees from vastly different political, religious, geographic, and cultural backgrounds, it’s not surprising that many executives grapple with some version of this question: “Rhodes, how do I get my team to perform when there are significant differences that get in the way of building trust?”
You aren’t alone if you too struggle to answer this question. In an attempt to develop a solution, some leaders have desperately resorted to zero tolerance bans in hopes to limit conversations about current events, politics, or religion. Inclusive leaders recognize that ignoring the increasing divisions inside the workplace impedes the development of cohesive teams and increases the risk of further harm.
As a leader, it’s your responsibility to create a sense of psychological safety and trust, which create the foundation for building belonging at work. This means that each person on the team feels that they can contribute their ideas and lived experiences without fear of negative consequences.
Yet as ideas are shared, and perspectives inevitably clash, how do you as a leader help your colleagues stay focused on why they are working together in the first place? How do you help bridge across personal differences that - (if) left unchecked - could create a toxic environment that leads to personal harm and damages the team’s overall morale?
Building Trust Through Sonder
To answer these big questions, inclusive leaders like you are first encouraged to embrace the concept of sonder. Sonder is the realization that each colleague on your team is living a life as vivid and as complex as your own. It reminds you that your colleagues’ worldviews are influenced by their own ambitions, friends, routines, fears, joys, beliefs, and behaviors, and their rich inner worlds are 100% invisible to you.
To truly appreciate your colleagues’ perspectives and lived experiences, you must practice the inclusive leadership trait of curiosity. Embrace your own curiosity about your colleagues by respectfully asking them questions to learn more about them. How do they want to feel a part of the team? What rewards make them feel appreciated for a job well done? How do they want to advance in their careers? When we lead with respectful curiosity, this vital information becomes known to us.
Learning more about your colleagues’ worldviews reduces social distance – the degree of emotional connection between colleagues. When a workplace team is cohesive, the level of social distance is usually low, even when colleagues come from different lived experiences and social backgrounds. When there is lower social distance and higher levels of trust, your colleagues can ask questions, admit to a mistake, and offer constructive feedback without fear of negative consequences (i.e., job loss, denied a promotion, loss of social capital, etc.).
Inclusive leaders who want to build bridges across cultural distance at work must learn how to increase the degree of emotional connection between colleagues who are likely to come from different backgrounds and have different lived experiences. To enhance emotional connection at work, you will have to move at the speed of trust. Trust is what makes or breaks any important relationship. So how do you build it with colleagues holding different values and beliefs from your own?
Joshua V. Barr, Emmy-Award Winning Director of the documentary, Breaking Bread, Building Bridges, wanted to answer that question. Specifically, he wanted to explore what would happen when people are put together based on their differences. According to Barr, “the purpose of the documentary was to see if in light of the ever-growing polarization of our country, could we get people to come together despite [significant social, political, and religious] differences and find shared commonalities.”
A Framework to Build Equitable Teams
The goal of the documentary was to help people value the differences identified as they established relationships, while also recognizing the many commonalities that they shared in their communities. As an extension, workplace teams have the power to accomplish this work as well, and the following framework may help you create necessary space to increase the emotional connections held between folks on your team and within your organization. Here’s a framework to get started:
Who are we? Your organization, and more specifically, your team acts together as one group. You as a leader are encouraged to celebrate the differences that make your team dynamic, while also working to rally around the purpose of the team. Bring your team together and ask them to develop a team motto to build a shared identity.
What is our purpose? What does your organization, or team, do to advance your mission? Encourage your team to work together to answer this question. As a leader, consider how you can support each person on your team understand how their – and their teammates - responsibilities along with their skills, contributions, and perspectives help the team accomplish their goals, and more broadly, how their contributions drive the organization to fulfill its mission.
When do we show up for each other? Inclusive leaders are encouraged to communicate often with those they manage, especially as we move into a hybrid work environment. Remind your team that you have their back and thank them for their efforts on a regular basis. By holding 1:1 conversations with your direct reports and reminding them of how their contributions to various projects are making a difference, you will then build trust, loyalty, and team cohesion.
Where do we include EQ? Flex your empathy muscles by creating more space for meaningful moments to build trust and rapport on your team. For teams that work virtually, this could be informal & inclusive icebreakers at the beginning and end of each meeting. Asking folks to type in a favorite song to build a team Spotify music mix, doing an emotional temperature check asking each person to share one word of how they are feeling, or asking folks to share one thing they appreciate about another colleague on the team all enhance emotional connections and emotional intelligence (EQ).
Why is disagreement good? A good sociology student knows that before a group can perform, a good storming session is required. If we want to cultivate innovation on our teams, inclusive leaders must promote respectful disagreement when it comes to determining the processes and activities required to successfully complete a team project. This can be achieved through brainstorming sessions, which helps invite team members into the conversation. Encourage those with the least status or experience to contribute their thoughts first, if they would like to, in an attempt to reduce intimidating power dynamics while increasing the volume of ideas and perspectives.
