The Shadows of Diversity
And how to address them to ensure true Equity and Inclusion
When we (Pablo and Mike, who are writing this article together and are therefore rather focusing on the impact and context between us) created Purpose+Motion (P+M) in 2020, we wrote a blog post explaining why we were doing this. In this article, we included some of the reasons we complemented each other so well. One of these was the diversity which we embodied — racial, national, and levels of privilege. At the time, we wrote:
“Indigenous and expat. Minority background and privileged background. Limited and immense opportunity… What is so fascinating to us both is how these contrasts (and our ability to see them as opportunities) organically brought us together, built us into the team we are today and eventually led to the emergence of Purpose+MotionP+M.”
4 years later, though we still see this as true, we feel it was very naïve of us to only see the benefits of our diversity. Since then, with our support network and new partner Alex, we have worked together and learned to acknowledge and reflect on what are the shadow sides of this diversity. We have chosen to address these head on to ensure true equity and inclusion. It has not been easy, nor comfortable, and it is an ongoing process.
We are also aware, of course, that on other levels we are both very much from the “majority” — cis-male, able-bodied, heterosexuals — and the work on integrating Alex (see our last article) certainly helped us integrate more of a gender perspective too.
For example, one shadow of our diverse background is the advantage which Mike has in interacting with white, European, especially men, who still make up most of the leadership in business and organisations in Germany and Europe. Such white men might feel an affinity with towards Mike’s looks, his name, way of speaking, cultural references, and find those elements in Pablo more difficult to relate to and, not quite connecting. On the other hand, leaders of NGOs from the Global South, with whom we often work, often have at times shown greater affinity with towards Pablo.
Whilst this is provides us with a great opportunity for us as a social businessto be , the abilityable to connect with and support such different audiences, as a social business we charge organisations and NGOs from the Global South much less than we do German or European businesses or social businesses. This has created an imbalance in what each of us within P+M can “easily” earn for our business with a similar amount of working hours. At times, this has created tensions between us, which we only later realized and once we did, required a real deeper look at some of the inequities in our backgrounds and possibilities — a deeper look at the shadows of our diversity.
Another example: Mike has had sustained contact since his childhood with European decision makers and leaders, whereas Pablo has not. This means for Mike it is easier to use his network to create possibilities, new connections and call on social capital. Even though Pablo has managed to accommodate himself to the European context after 10 years herein Germany and despite him working for almost 10 years longer in the sector of learning and organizational development, he is still sometimes at a disadvantage with Mike in terms of the validity and professional legitimacy that some people give him.
This imbalance is expressed not in outburst of explicit discrimination, but instead small comments, jokes made, assumptions and labels being put on us — an unconscious bias we all have, though some are more aware of and careful about than others. Indeed, many of our partners and clients are indeed themselves exploring their unconscious bias and the inequities in their organisations.
The conversations to balance our expectations of each-other’s earnings or client creation in an equitable manner has required real openness, and empathy in all directions. At first, these they triggered many aspects of Mike’s “White Fragility” (e.g. wanting to refuse any suggestion that racism might be benefiting him),; and elements of “the oppressed” (feeling unable to speak up and have agency) in Pablo. Through many rounds of group coaching sessions, crucial questions from our partner Alex, and our own individual inner work, we’ve arrived at a better and deeper understanding of both the lights and shadows of our diversity.
Of course, we know that defining “shadows” of diversity can trigger a lot of people, and we do it as a wake-up call (which we would have liked to have 4 years ago), for those (especially often white) people who promote diversity either as a solely positive and wonderful thing for everyone (the “optimistic progressive”) or in a tokenistic way, simply to tick boxes (the “reluctant conservative”), for those who believe it just means making sure you have a person of color on your board or some people from the global south in your team.
We write this as we really would have appreciated to have this wake-up call 4 years ago for ourselves… The problem is that when white people have not done their work to understand racism, privilege and the systemic nature of power imbalances, there is a high likelihood of things exploding into conflict or being deeply hurtful for the people of color or of other backgrounds.
Therefore, we believe it is crucial that any work in a professional and organizational context on diversity be is planned and thought through not just from the white, privileged perspective but also from how it will feel from that a perspective of the people of color, or the less privileged or other groups. It is crucial essential to really look at the imbalances of power, the inequities which are systemically there, and look how these are represented in your organisation.
Interestingly, as we started to become aware of the subtle nuances and shadows of having a diverse team, we began to receive requests from clients to address toxic power dynamics, systemic racism within teams and organizations, and lack of sensitivity towards diversity. Having had those reflections and confronting our own biases, privileges and backgrounds within our team, we believe we can now bring higher value when working with our clients on this. However, it feels like there is so much more shadows to explore and bring on the table and we are committed to keep doing this.
What we have seen in other organizations is that, as they work to increase diversity or adjust their ways of working to ensure greater equity and inclusion, they often fail to see the shadows of this diversity and then major defenses go up on all sides. Often, accusations of racism or racial discrimination from one side are met with accusations of weaponizing racism. Trust is broken, and it can be’s incredibly challenging to move towards a healthy place.
Nowadays there are more multicultural teams and organizations that have presence in many regions of the world. Often, these organizations try to maintain a homogeneous set of values, culture, and ways of working that reflect what some people, normally often in a fancy building somewhere in Europe or the USA have decided. Organizations can be a force of for good, wealth and prosperity but they can also be a vehicle for cultural colonization. It is our duty to be mindful of both the lights and the shadow aspects of working in such teams and organizations, if we are to achieve true equity and inclusion one day.
We therefore highly recommend that teams look at the following if they want to increase their chances at bringing diversity, equity and inclusion in their workplace:
- Create proactive, safe spaces to discuss diversity: Establish forums for open discussion on diversity and inclusion topics. Engaging a facilitator can provide structure and objectivity to these conversations.
- Individual Support Systems: Implement confidential support channels for employees to discuss and process their experiences related to diversity and workplace dynamics.
- Proactive Leadership Engagement: Encourage leaders to actively seek diverse perspectives and remain open to learning from varied experiences.
- Diverse Mentorship Opportunities: Create mentorship programs that bridge cultural and experiential gaps, fostering understanding and collaboration across different backgrounds.
- Cultural Recognition Initiatives: Regularly celebrate the diverse cultures within the organization through meaningful and respectful activities.
- Feedback-Friendly Environment: Cultivate a culture where feedback on diversity and inclusion is not just accepted but actively encouraged and implemented and where there exists a confidence to be able to deal with conflicts in a non-violent and constructive way.
- Ongoing Education and Training: Invest in continuous, interactive training programs on diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring they are relevant, and engaging and meaningful for all employees.
Indeed, we see similar dynamics happening in many western societies with regards to topics of diversity and migration, where we see (primarily) white people in western societies who have never been educated to understand and deal with the systemic nature of racism, privilege or power dynamics, putting up their defenses, closing down any conversation or forbidding the learning about these topics, and manipulating their power and privilege to maintain their dominant positions.
We firmly believe that, if enough organisations and individuals do their work on these topics, and continuous pressure is put for this work to be done at a societal level, we will be able to create truly equitable and inclusive workplaces and societies.
