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Why entrepreneurs MUST embrace diversity

Cyril Williams
Aug 31, 2018 · 2 min read

As an entrepreneur, I’ve always championed diversity in business and I’m committed to having representation from all corners of the world. I believe all entrepreneurs need to respect and support more diverse work environments.

I’ve been focusing my attention on how diversity can help build stronger businesses, as I believe a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences and beliefs in a workplace influences the well-being of your business. It leads to greater innovation and a stronger sense of community and can dramatically increase your ability to connect and resonate with a wider audience.

My goal is to bring people together from all over the world and learn from their experiences and perspectives, so much so that I refer to my own organisation, Arete22 as the United Nations, due to the diversity of our community and its open and inclusive hiring policy.

Diversity creates brighter opportunities for all and I have experienced this exchange of skills and knowledge in practice within my organisation. Working with people from different backgrounds, abilities, ethnicities, genders, classes, ages and experiences opens new perspectives and offers people an alternative view on how to work and interact with the world. It allows for people to make more informed decisions, come together as a community which ultimately, drives to improved performance both towards collective and personal goals.

As an entrepreneur, you can make meaningful differences to people’s lives by embracing diversity. You can help someone become that first person in their family to open their own business or provide life-changing training to a person who perhaps didn’t have access to the best education. All entrepreneurs have the power to do something incredible; you just need to find a way of applying that power and creating opportunities.

For entrepreneurs and business owners weaving diversity into the fabric of their businesses will dramatically enrich their operations. Focusing on the same skills, interests and experiences when building a team restricts ability and knowledge and will prevent a company from ever going the distance or making a positive impact in the business world.

Cyril Williams

Written by

I have made it my mission to provide entrepreneurial opportunities to others, regardless of their background or education. http://cyrilwilliams.com/

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