Follow me into the uncomfortable

The more I travel the world, the more I realise how special London is as a city. I love the beauty of the place. The way that the streets of London carry stories from days gone by. It's easy to picture the horse drawn carriages which used to ride down Park Lane, or to see the darkness in East London's once gang ruled streets. There is a history that lives through every nook and cranny of this city. What really makes this place special, though, is not the history, but the diversity that currently ripples through it. Whichever tube line, bus, or road you walk to get to work in the morning, there are people of all genders, all nationalities, all ethnicities, all sexualities. London is a diversity champion. And I love it.

Diversity has become one of those buzz words everyone loves to use these days, but do any of us really think about why it has become an echelon of success? Why is this something companies are constantly seeking? I am fortunate to lead a diverse team. I have men, women, twenty year olds, forty year olds, and the ages in between. As fortunate as I am, though, it is hard. It tests your ability to communicate across different mind-sets. Delivering a message to the iGeneration requires a very different approach to that of Gen-Xers. One generation is dubbed as being hypersensitive, whilst the other is known as independent thinkers. It takes a lot of energy to mediate these situations, so is it all worth it? For me, the answer every time is yes. Despite the difficulties, the upside of leading a diverse team far outweighs the alternative. It might be easier to surround myself with people who think and communicate like me, but what is the point of that? Different perspectives at work opens up my mind to new possibilities as a manager. It challenges me to think differently, to innovate more wisely, to be more creative in my solutions. It makes me a stronger leader. This is a widely accepted thesis within the professional world. We have all heard our HR departments talk about the benefits of diversity and, over time, we have become comfortable with the concept and trust the outcomes. Why then don't we extend this same mind-set to our personal lives?

Whilst we all accept the benefits of diversity at work, when I look around me, I rarely see people challenging themselves in the same way in their personal relationships. Too often we surround ourselves with people who look like us, who live like us, who work like us, whose struggle is similar to ours. If different perspectives make me stronger at work, then that should be something that naturally translates into other parts of my life. There is so much that we can learn from other people's stories; we have all come from different places, different cultures, with different demons. We learn so much from our own journeys through life, so hearing the views of others, whose journeys have been different to mine, will only make me wiser. It's easy to judge other people, and make yourself feel superior, if you don't take the time to understand their opinions. An issue that once seemed simple can suddenly look far more complicated once you open your mind to other reasons for why the problem arose. I have always believed in the idea that knowledge is power, but the nuance I'm learning is that knowledge is not constrained to academia, but extends into social awareness and empathy. Combining these factors is where the true power of thought comes.

So if it makes us stronger individuals to do this, then why don't more of us apply this philosophy? Ultimately, unlike at work, we do not have someone in our personal lives who is guiding the best direction for us to take. In our everyday lives, we are our own leaders and it is up to us to drive changes. We come through life with a ready made network of friendships, based on where we were born, and it's easy and comfortable to stay within the bounds set by this. We know what to expect when our friends are from backgrounds similar to our own. We're not going to be caught off guard by a challenging opinion, so we can relax and be at ease in our friends' company. The reality, however, is that the beauty in life comes when we step into the challenge of 'the uncomfortable', not shy away from it. It's a scary thought, but making a conscious decision to choose environments, which better represent the world we live in, is how we grow as human beings. The only way to know what we don't know is to learn it from others.

I have been thinking about this a lot recently because I am currently challenging myself to bring more perspectives into my own life. Like many people, I have grown up in a bubble of what I know. Whether it's the Indian family I grew up in, or the British middle-class school I attended, my life has been lived in bubbles. The rise of social media has better connected the world, awakening a generation to life outside of their individual circumstances. As I strive for a greater understanding of how these pieces of the world fit together, I am realising that it's time to push myself into the pockets of society that I haven't experienced for myself. I can see that if I am moved by certain issues, and wish to push for change, then I need to first hear and understand unfamiliar points of view. In essence, how sincere can I be when talking about issues if I only speak to my point of view, and don't consider how my neighbour also feels? You can't be a change maker if you only speak for yourself. My challenge for myself is to keep widening my horizons and opening my mind. To listen and learn. Only then do I think that I will truly begin to build my knowledge and gain power of thought. I challenge you to do the same and follow me into the uncomfortable.