If we want to advance DEI and lift the quality of leadership, we need to focus on upgrading the system, along with unlocking individual potential.

Maintaining the status quo and trying to integrate those who are not in the majority, is an easy trap to fall into. It is easier for the majority as they don’t have to do anything. However, the collective then misses out on growth and evolution.

Fortunately, some organisations are starting to recognise this. A number of clients have invited me to work with managers and senior leaders to challenge the mental model on which their systems are based, while also working with their talent in minority groups.

Working with leaders and the system is critical, but there is work to be done with individuals in marginalised groups, not to be fixed, but to unlock their unique potential and contribution.

When someone is marginalised, not only do they experience the marginalisation at the time, but they internalise those messages and carry them inside. This is called ‘internalised marginalisation’ and it can be one or a mix of internalised racism, sexism, personality-ism or other ‘isms’.

Many of the quieter individuals I have worked with have internalised the message that they are too quiet to lead, that they are not as good as their outspoken peers or that they are invisible and not valued.

What is important when working with these marginalised individuals, is helping them become aware of these messages of internalised marginalisation and reducing their impact.

This work is not about ‘fixing’ but rather removing the thought patterns that are preventing their best selves from emerging. It is part of helping people to appreciate themselves fully, rather than seeing their characteristics as disadvantages.

A participant on a Quietly Powerful leadership program shared:

“It’s really great to finally have a leadership program not aimed at changing who we are”.

For organisations that are serious about making progress on DEI and at the same time would like to lift the quality of leadership – I invite you to think about fixing the system AND unlocking (not fixing) individual potential. This is about truly appreciating the unique and diverse contributions, even if, or especially, if they don’t fit the ‘norm’.

Explore this topic further in the free whitepaper: ‘Rethink talent: 7 reasons why you are losing your best leadership talent and what it’s costing organisations’ – https://colossal-artist-4694.ck.page/acb7c47416.

For organisations wishing to explore this approach, you can see what can be done and the impact at https://www.quietlypowerful.com.au/for-organisations/

I also wrote an article about ‘fixing people who don’t fit’ some years ago https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fixing-people-who-dont-fit-megumi-miki/?trackingId=aJQi19ILRoyvvYVWmxLt5w%3D%3D

Some other authors who have written about the need to fix the system rather than fixing the individuals include Jack Crane, Catherine Fox AM, Mary Ann Sieghart and Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. They continue to inspire me to keep thinking about this issue, and you may be interested in their content, too.

This article is Lesson 8 in a series on ‘8 lessons from 8 years of Quietly Powerful’. View the other posts at #QP8thbirthday.

Written by Megumi Miki, with Anna Reeve and Leigh Gassner, co-founders of Leaders who Listen. We aim to develop leaders who create a listening environment of safety and space within their organisations to enable better decision making, drive growth and innovation, enhance collaboration and inclusion, and manage risk. If you’d like to understand how your leadership team can engage in productive disagreements, contact us about our Leaders who Listen assessment tools, presentations, masterclasses and development programs.