I was at a very interesting breakfast seminar on diversity for the large London law firms recently. This is a major (operational not legal) issue for them and now even some of their clients are starting to place specific expectations on them in the area of diversity. The speaker was Linbert Spencer who is an outstanding speaker and one of the country’s leading experts in this area. Linbert himself is of Afro-Caribbean origin and described when he came here in the 1950s and how “different” he felt. However when we explored individually when we felt “different” and uncomfortable in our lives a whole range of non standard examples of diversity came up. These included such things as height, social background, accent, dietary restrictions etc.etc. Linbert made the point that when you have two, 55 year old males in a room you have diversity. Linbert emphasised that a key shift in thinking is from managing diversity to Managing Inclusion. This is about understanding the difference and working to treat people in the right way to help them feel included. Diversity is certainly a potential strength but only becomes one if it is managed effectively to ensure inclusion. There are some powerful tools around like The McQuaig Psychometric System™ to help us understand our core personality differences and Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats® which provides a toolbox to ensure everyone feels included and can contribute. As Linbert himself has said “Six Thinking hats levels in the playing field in diversity and inclusion”.]]>