I appreciate you because you are different

What is the half-life time of the value team diversity?  Team diversity in my book is something that goes far beyond race and gender.  The value of diversity in teams in unquestionable but how come so many organisations destroy this value the moment they can lay their hands on it?  
This team has to act as a one!  We have to be united! I am sure you have heard it all before and also seen new appointed leaders  ‘doing a clean-up’ and start with ‘a few good man’ to form a leadership team that can take the organisation to the next level …

Make onboarding a team effort 
Is it necessary? It depends. Sometimes you have to.  Think about major turnarounds involving reshaping current business models into something new whilst you suffer from devastating financial results.  But then, what does the new team look like? Here’s rule one:  don’t hire clones.  Make sure you appoint the crazy ones, the ones who dare to think and speak outside the box. The other day we discussed with a new appointed leader what kind of leadership journey would bring out the best in the new team. We concluded it all starts with understanding and appreciation the deeper motives of each individual.  Why does she work? What is the dream she is pursuing?  Exploring and experiencing motives this in any new team is one of the prerequisites for high performance.  

Dare to be different 
But what if you only appoint one new leader in an existing team? Here’s a thought:  dare to be different. Make onboarding not just the responsibility of the new leader.  Don’t put him in a programme. Put your whole team in an onboarding programme.  Adding one new player changes the whole system.  Will you treat the new appointed leader as the ‘the replacement of John’ or will you invest time of the whole team to explore and experience how the entrance of the new player changes the value and performance? Onboarding as a team effort will make the new leader feel very welcome and appreciated.  It is not just him fighting into the existing group. It is the group opening up at the start and discuss and adapt the implicit rules of engagement of that team.   All it takes is a bit of time from your team and the courage to reflect on team performance. Your bonus? A high performing team. Dare to be different, you will be appreciated for it. 

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