High Performance Requires Diverse Team
Frustrated by a feeling that her organization valued people who didn't "rock the boat" over all else, a friend recently asked me whether I thought it important for leaders to hire people who have an approach different than their own. While many would deny it, when it comes to hiring, most people charged with leading others seek out people who echo their own personalities, values and styles of working.
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I think people do this for two reasons. First, leaders don't want employees they dislike or whom they cannot influence and motivate. Second, in the interest of achieving or maintaining high-performance teamwork, leaders place a premium on people they think will fit well into the team — people the rest of the team will readily accept. I understand and admire both motivations, and I believe that most of those in the fire service who have responsibilities for hiring and team-building mean well.
However, plenty of evidence suggests that high-performing teams require a diverse mix of perspectives, skills and experience. Unfortunately, too many would-be leaders seeking flexible, adaptive and resilient teams actually produce ordinary performance by diligently hiring employees who too closely resemble themselves and others on the team. Really good leaders — those who build teams that perform reliably, overcome adversity, anticipate and contain unexpected events, and minimize human error — know they need people who have attributes and experiences different from their own. They recruit for a variety of skills, abilities, expertise and thinking. Why? Because although uniform teams tend to get along well and think they produce better results, recent research indicates that diverse groups make better decisions, avoid "group think" and find stronger solutions to problems.
In her book Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin chronicles how President Abraham Lincoln, facing the crisis of a civil war, chose a cabinet of the finest minds available — people with different styles, ways of thinking and areas of expertise whom he knew to be more capable than himself in their areas of expertise. Most interestingly, Lincoln chose people who, for the most part, had been his rivals. While few would-be leaders today may possess the wisdom of Lincoln, smart leaders will seek out people who have a variety of characteristics and experiences, recognizing that people's differences add value. Most importantly, authentic leaders seek to fill gaps in their own skills, experience and interests.
Let's be clear. While team diversity is highly desirable, it also can prove uncomfortable at times. Team diversity brings with it different perspectives, expectations and approaches to teamwork. Encouraging a variety of perspectives while keeping everyone focused and ready to make efficient decisions can present a leadership challenge because the leader must prove able to anticipate and resolve conflicts within the team. However, this seems like a small cost to pay for the performance improvements that a diverse team can bring.
So how do we take advantage of this knowledge? First, take a quick inventory of your current team or staff. Do they tend to look like you? Think like you? Act like you? Have similar skills and experiences as you? While "yes" answers to all these questions may produce a compatible team, a team of people from similar backgrounds who duplicate each other's strengths and weaknesses likely will produce something other than greatness and resilient performance.
Building a diverse team starts with the selection process. Unfortunately, the standardized recruiting and hiring processes common in most fire agencies can work against the principle of hiring for diverse thinking, skill sets and experiences — inadvertently producing unbalanced organizations with a narrow band of skills. Bureaucratic hiring processes are, after all, seeking a degree of sameness. Even agencies ostensibly promoting diversity tend to do so in superficial ways focused on visible characteristics such as race, culture, gender and physical ability while failing to seek out unique knowledge, experiences and thinking. Instead, leaders should choose people for their abilities and experience.
Effective leaders know the backgrounds of their people and ensure that team members maximize their familiarity with one another and know each other's knowledge, skills, experiences and opportunities to contribute. Help team members understand how their work affects one another, and create opportunities for team members to see how their various abilities complement one another.
After hiring a diverse team, leaders should ensure that the team stays focused on the mission. Establish a team vision that not only rises above but takes advantage of team-member differences, creating a culture that encourages relationships, teamwork and unit cohesion.
Once comfortable with people's expertise, defer to that expertise. Allow leadership to shift around the organization and emerge as necessary. Allow decisions to migrate, both up and down the organization, to people who are in the best position to solve the problem at hand regardless of formal position.
Most people charged with leading others seek out people who echo their own personalities, values and styles of working — it's just human nature. However, the evidence suggests that alert, flexible, adaptive and resilient teams actually need people who have a variety of skills, abilities, expertise and thinking.
Mike DeGrosky is chief executive officer of the Guidance Group, a consulting organization specializing in the human and organizational aspects of the fire service. He also serves as an adjunct instructor in leadership studies at Fort Hays State University. His interests include leadership, strategy, and bringing the concepts of learning organizations and high-reliability organizing alive in fire organizations. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. focused on organizational leadership. He can be reached at info@guidancegroup.org.
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