Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.4MB)
Kennedy, Debbe, foreword by Joel A. Barker. Putting Our Differences to Work: The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership, and High Performance. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2008.
… “Putting our differences to work means creating an environment where people, naturally unique and different–diverse by nature and experience–can work more effectively in ways that drive new levels of creativity, innovation, problem solving, leadership, and performance in the marketplaces, workplaces, and communities of the world.”
Putting our differences to work at every level within an organization requires a new kind of intention from everybody. It means consciously recognizing one undeniable fact: that people are the number one source of new thinking and new ideas needed for change and the betterment of business and society.
It is the heartbeat, commitment, and hard work of every individual that fulfills a business strategy and brings about innovation, leadership, and high performance for any organization or endeavor.
We don’t trust one another as much as we should, and, consequently, we tend to isolate ourselves, staying with those most like us.
Future leaders must know their particular strengths and how to draw upon the complementary strengths of others–sharing leadership roles as needed.