Embrace Diverse Thinking Styles for Better Collaboration
As women moving into leadership roles across entrepreneurial spaces and large corporations, we know assembling diverse, effective teams is key to innovation. Most of us focus on diversity when it comes to factors like gender, backgrounds and skillsets - but what about diversity of thinking styles?
Fostering an environment where different personality types and work modes can thrive is equally important for producing stellar collaborative results. Over the years, I’ve recognized my most successful projects and ventures involved a reliable mix of out-of-the-box visionaries and detail-driven executors. Blending big picture and tactical thinking accelerates progress.
Here’s my advice on embracing diverse personalities:
Value Unique Communication Styles
Make space for introverts and extroverts alike to express ideas without pressure to conform to just one way of sharing input. Set standards for respectful discourse.
Clarify Preferences Upfront
Distinguish team members who love conceiving original concepts vs those who want to refine established methodologies. Define processes that leverage strengths.
Encourage Healthy Debate
Don’t shy away from productive discord and questioning, Be clear on decision rights while allowing dialogue from different POVs to reach well-rounded choices.
Incentivize According to Motivations
Identify what drives each person - freedom, stability, learning - and tie incentives/culture to satisfy intrinsic motivation for fulfillment beyond pay.
Bridge Gaps with Translators
For very complex initiatives, consider hiring versatile team members who can effectively connect dots between varied personalities and bridge communication gaps.
While leaning hard into our female superpowers like empathy and resilience has gotten us this far, I believe embracing complementary and sometimes opposing mindsets can propel us even further. The most game-changing companies are built on the foundation of diversity afterall!
What are your best practices for capitalizing on different thinking styles? Share your insights below!
