Leaders: Who have you marginalized?

Belonging is feeling safe in the workplace to show your differences without being marginalized for it. ~Glassdoor

There is more diversity in the workplace today than at any other time in history. However, most leaders have a long way to go in terms of building a sense of belonging to support their diversity efforts. As reported by Glassdoor, according to a recent survey from consultancy EY, only about one-third of U.S. workers today say they feel a sense of belonging at work.

In this same survey, more than 40 percent of employees reported that social exclusion in the workplace — the very phenomenon workplace belonging efforts aim to correct — makes them feel physically and emotionally stressed and unhappy.

How can leaders promote and encourage belonging?

First, we all need to understand a few key terms. Micro-messages: the signals we send to one another through our behavior. They are called “micro” because the behaviors are small, although their impact can be significant. Which then leads to micro-inequities: micro-messages we send other people that cause them to feel devalued, slighted, discouraged, or excluded (i.e., marginalized).

Heightened Awareness

Second, leaders need to become far more aware of their own behaviors, the subtle micro-messages they are sending without even realizing it. This is a very short list (the possibilities are endless) of subtle behaviors (micro-inequities), that when repeated can have enormous impact.

  • Being left off a list
  • Being left out of a discussion/project
  • Not being introduced at a meeting, or receiving a perfunctory introduction in comparison to the introductions of others
  • Cutting down ideas before they can be considered
  • Giving greater weight to the same idea presented by another
  • Repeatedly misspelling or mispronouncing a name
  • Focusing attention elsewhere, such as a smart phone, when in conversation

Time to Reflect

Third, leaders need to take time to reflect in order to begin to uncover the micro-inequities they send throughout the day. For example, at the end of each day, consider the following:

  • When am I listening (or not)?
  • When am I shutting people out?
  • Who am I including and excluding?
  • Who am I encouraging and praising?
  • When am I distracted when someone is else is talking?
  • When am I disagreeing in a way that might be taken as belittling?
  • Whose contributions am I taking for granted?
  • Who do I consistently overlook?

It’s easy for leaders to say, and believe, that they aren’t guilty of sending micro-inequities. But that’s the point of MICRO. So subtle that we are unconscious of the messages we may be sending. Who are you marginalizing without even realizing it? If no one comes to mind, then I strongly suggest you ask several trusted colleagues to help you begin to identify your blind spots.

Take your diversity efforts to the next level and create an environment where people feel like they belong.