The Age of Multiple Truths
How do we get better at working with multiple truths? This feels like the leadership skill of our time. How do we deal with team members mourning the monarchy from those frustrated by minimal coverage of more pressings issues like Chris Kaba’s murder? How do we address Gen X managers frustrations with Gen Z strong boundaries between work and the rest of their life in ways that build harmonious workplaces? These are two recent examples coming up in our work that have created tensions between teams in ways that are reinforcing difference - leaving each with a sense of the other not understanding or not appreciating what matters to them.
This feeling of division or disconnection runs deep. We’ve already seen how pace of progress on issues like anti-racism can unite or divide amongst your Global Majority team members, building trust that ‘you get it’ and are a genuine ally, or creating a mood of mistrust with behaviours and actions interrogated with a sense of disappointment. Beyond this, the sense of division is a thread that’s running deep in our culture right now - the cost of living crisis sharpening our view on the haves and the have nots, class division feeling fresher and more visible than ever, perspectives on world events and crises being a shorthand for ‘you’re with me’ or ‘you’re against me’. We’ve got teams of people with passionate feelings about their way of seeing the world that cause people to ‘dig in’ to their beliefs and ideals when opposing perspectives are shared.
It’s not that these differences are new, it’s more that they have become more visible to us and to each other. It creates new kinds of tensions amongst team members. It creates more responsibility for organisations to ensure inclusion and address issues of inequality. It makes diversity harder. It gives a new confidence in staff to make demands of their leaders to be cognisant and responsive to their needs. It’s a new set of considerations for anyone committed to building a culture of belonging, but it’s important we grapple with them.
What are we asking people to belong to?
If we are serious about belonging we have to know what it is that we are asking people to belong to. Let’s take the example of the Queen’s Death. Who chose to say nothing? Who chose to make an organisational statement? Who chose to do something else? Now ask yourself, what were the reasons for that? Working with multiple truths means that we acknowledge all of the perspectives in the space, but that we have clarity on what we stand for within it. These moments represent opportunities to communicate this in a powerful way. We loved the Mind campaign during this phase of mourning offering support for those affected by Chris Kaba’s murder. It spoke volumes about what that charity cares about and how in a moment when it felt like there was high levels of expectation about how organisations responded, they took a route that enabled them to recognise the different needs of society at that time. That it was met with a lot of challenge speaks volumes about the division in society at that time, but it definitely was well appreciated by those feeling unseen and unheard in the impact of yet another black lived lost.
Which truths matter more?
This isn’t a personal judgement call about whose truth matter more, working with multiple truths is best when its connected to values we hold as an organisation. If we’re on a journey to anti-racism then we can understand we have white people who are still getting their heads around it, and we are visibly committed to a truth of the world that acknowledges the damage its done to equity and equality. If we are genuinely about being ambitious, then we have to be ready to respond to new ideas and needs about how work needs to work amongst all of our people, even when they challenge our own ideas of what it has been in the past. If we describe ourselves as progressive, then the resurgence of class and haves and have nots needs to be part of how we think about supporting and growing our people. What counts is that we acknowledge all of the different truths that exist and respond from a place of supporting those needs in the different ways required, using our values as a north star for how we do that.
Do you know all your people’s truths?
Our work always starts with helping leaders understand the truths that exist in their organisations. This definitely doesn’t make the work of leadership any easier, with more grey areas than ever to navigate through. The answers are not easy. The way forward not a straight line. The days of black and white thinking are probably over. But here’s some things that definitely help.
Focus on our shared values: They help us come together in how we navigate work and life
Normalise differences: Validate different needs and experiences
Connection: Create spaces where people can get deeply connect to each others contexts
Know when to stand firm: EDI is non negotiable and needs a clear stance on why it’s critical
Prioritise respect: Value conversations and learning that challenges assumptions
