What does diversity mean for your organization? Studies show that companies are thinking about diversity in a much more expanded way by recognizing new diversity paradigms – and it’s good for business.

Organizations understand that diversity is a broad topic that includes dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age and physical abilities. But it doesn’t stop there. Diversity also includes diversity of thought and diversity of styles, approaches and personalities. Understanding this new diversity paradigm and how it can affect your team’s effectiveness is key to ensuring a high level of performance.

This expanded perspective on diversity is likely due to the overwhelming body of evidence demonstrating that organizations with more diverse teams outperform their less-diverse counterparts. Think about it – how effective is a team of people who look alike AND think alike? Or a team full of dominant personality types? Or a team comprised of people solely focused on the details? Or a team full of decisive, risk-takers?

It’s pretty easy to see the value of having teams comprised of diverse personality types. But finding out where people are coming from is the first step. It’s not always obvious – most people don’t have that level of self-awareness. That’s where a comprehensive and professional personality assessment tool comes in. Here are the guiding principles for finding the best one:

• ALL personalities and styles are valuable; none is viewed as better than others and all people are a blend of styles.
• Your work style is influenced by life experiences, education and maturity. You don’t leave your opinions, insecurities and biases at the door when you come to work.
• Understanding yourself better is the first step to becoming more effective when working with others.
• Healthy, positive relationships come from having an accurate understanding of yourself and others. Learning about other people’s styles can help you understand their priorities and how they may differ from your own.
• There are cut-and-dried personality types. Based on assessments, you discover where you fall on a spectrum. Proven assessments are critical in making this determination.

Understand that it is a process to move from Judging to Valuing different personality styles.

Think of it this way – we start at the bottom JUDGING others based on our own preferences. Then we move to UNDERSTAND how and why people are different from us. After that, we learn to RESPECT those differences and eventually APPRECIATE them. Finally, we learn to truly VALUE the differences in others.

In many ways, teams are like families. Diverse personalities and opinions enrich the experience and create better outcomes. Of course there will be disagreements. But it’s the trust, understanding and mutual respect that makes it work.

If you need help assessing the personalities on your teams, give Powers Resource Center a call. We are experts in Everything DiSC^® products, which helps teams communicate and interact more effectively by bringing assessment insights to life through specific, personalized solutions.

Powers Resource Center has been using Everything DiSC^® products with clients for 10 years, and Tara Powers recently earned the credential of Certified Everything DiSC Workplace Facilitator. As organizations become more focused on people as their best competitive advantage, they are turning to Everything DiSC^® to improve their workplaces.