The Concept of Diversity for me is to respect each other's differences but also to embrace our commonalities. I believe I am more similar to others in some respects and different in other respects. For example, I love hip hop but that is not a genre that I was familiar with as a child nor was it a part of my culture.
Race, gender, age and nationality are the most common dimensions of diversity that are pretty obvious to most of us. However, the hidden diversities of each of us need to be drawn out at times so we can learn more about those we come in contact with. All of these dimensions are important to me because I am a curious person who loves to learn about others, their backgrounds and what makes them shine. As a team leader, I always ask the group to identify ourselves but also find a way to bring out the special strengths of each individual; those things that are not inherently obvious.
We had our company BBQ yesterday, and we not only celebrated our diversity by gathering as one unit, we also embraced each other's differences by our interactions. We played a trivia game with 300 people; all of whom participated as separate tables who acted as teams. These teams were formed by those who were familiar with each other, whether by department or common interests but the friendships formed among the teams and the entire group are memories to be shared forever. We also watched several talented acts perform to our delight, and we celebrated our diversity in that light as well. I am very fortunate to work in an environment that supports inclusion of our diverse ages, races, thoughts, etc.
Here are a couple of clips from the "WINNING" performance at yesterday's "Back to the 80's" BBQ:
Yes, we have performances every year. This year we had 3 wonderful and highly competitive performances. We had to vote twice to get the winner!
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