What do you do if your diverse team needs a leader who can adapt?

Get educated on Digital body language in addition to verbal and non-verbal communication. Until I read Erica Dhawan's work on Digital body language, I thought I was helping when I asked to " lets discuss" after multiple slack or emails not appreciating that can be helpful to many especially of GenX + age groups and can be challenging for others. Understanding perspectives and reactions to ways of working is a new skill that is gained through continued learning, sharing, observation and practice.

Enable a leader who prioritizes adaptability, appreciates diversity, and cultivates inclusivity, fostering an environment where all team members can flourish. This can be facilitated through team-building exercises or casual coffee sessions.

Find a meaningful, thoughtful, and empowering leader who wants to learn alongside their team. Hire a DEI consultant to come in, evaluate team members as to their current understanding of diversity, figure out what company's objectives are, plan and tailor trainings. A consultant provides an outsider's view and perspective of what is right now, in this moment with the team. That's huge! People don't see their biases sometimes. The consultant training team, (usually 2 or 3), designs small and large group work scenarios and situations to learn. Listening is key, along with compassion and understanding another person's viewpoint. The leader of the team needs to role model adaptability, flexibility, EQ awareness, cognizant of team's blindspots.

My 2 cents opinion, if you are hire true leader, the adaptability is not a challenges, why? true leader is the one that will work out to adapt to its new JD, team members, SOP, environment and culture of his team. True leader behaviour and actions will bring the new team together and leap ahead. If the effort only come from the team but no effort from the leader itself, any approach is useless. Adaptability is about open for changes, tolerates, continous learning, considerate and willingness. ??

You try to lead by example and provide the fertile ground for the team, so that the individual skills of each team member can flourish.

One weak team member can lower morale & work ethic, cause dissent & distraction, and pull a team down. If you are a leader that is struggling to cultivate this growth, make sure that you are regularly reading, praying, stretching yourself, and seeking opportunities to grow. Another great resource is a coach. Model qualities you want to see in your team. Love well. Lead with your heart. Build solid relationships with your teammates so that you can tell when something is "off".

The strength of your team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team. How are you building each member on your team? Creating a culture of growth and development builds confidence in your team and helps bring awareness to their weaknesses and builds on their strengths.

Leaders should always be deputizing and training possible replacements. Normalizing this promotes knowledge share. The leader must be held accountable to choose a diverse group to uplift and mentor.

When I look back, I realize that the initiative spark comes from making the members of the team understand that teamwork is important for me as their leader. For this, clear frameworks for action are important that relate to the jointly agreed communication (in person, digitally, via email). The times at which the members can meet for exchange are also clear. After all, my task as a manager is to set these framework conditions. The result is the insights and solutions that result from the entire team. However, the goals that are to be achieved as a team, as a working community, should also be clear and behind these goals, all members should be gathered. No goal, no result.

Adaptive leadership style is the key! It’s a forward-thinking approach to leadership that focuses on flexibility & innovation. It recognises that in today's fast-paced & ever-changing world, leaders must be able to adapt & respond to new challenges and opportunities & must have the ability to learn & evolve. Leading by example involves demonstrating the behaviors & attitudes you expect from your team. To adapt to your diverse team, showcase your flexibility, openness to different perspectives, & willingness to learn from others. Encourage collaboration, respect individual differences, & actively seek feedback to continuously improve your leadership approach. By modeling adaptability & inclusivity, you'll inspire your team tremendously.

If you are a leader that is struggling to adapt, make sure that you are regularly reading, praying, stretching yourself, and seeking opportunities to grow. Another great resource is a coach. Model qualities you want to see in your team.

You be the change you want to see in your team. The most powerful tool you have to instigate behavior change is your example. Your behavior, and your attitude about your behavior, impacts the behavior of others. Leadership is influence. Influence people through the power of your example. Lead them.

Take the time to get your message right. Think about your audience. What are their stories? What are their expectations? What are their learning styles? What are their personality types and communication preferences? Then, craft a clear, well-organized, message. Communication is CRITICAL to your ability to influence change. Take the time to develop your skills and tools in this regard. I recommend "Crucial Conversations", "Radical Candor", "Verbal Judo", "Getting to Yes", and "Never Split the Difference" as initial study material around communication.

The best way to be adaptable is to get curious, enquire about the needs of your team and do so without judgement. To do this ypu must be open minded, trying to look at things through the eyes of your employees. Then you need to listen, really hear what employees are saying and try new things. Curiosity really is the key though.