Use Your Difference to Make a Difference

Learning to connect across differences will enhance your leadership of diverse organizations and help you contribute to a better world.

Every human being longs for connection. When people who hail from diverse backgrounds and who hold differing beliefs and perspectives find ways to connect, they can transform the world with empathy, accountability and compassion. Alas, binary thinking, fear and intolerance often exacerbate societal divisions.

Today, humanity’s advancement requires people to go beyond being bystanders and embrace difference with courage. Rather than try to erase difference, people should celebrate it as a means to arrive at new shared understandings and expand perspectives. When you learn to connect across difference, you become a better leader; you are able to establish inclusive environments where people feel safe bringing their full selves. People who develop skills in connecting across cultures can change the world. To learn to connect, you’ll need to educate yourself about your own biases and about the world around you. Connecting with people across differences requires that you refuse to perpetuate oppression and that you make a choice to communicate...