Maximizing the Skills of a Diverse Work Force? Meet Kelly McDonald author “How to Work With and Lead People Not Like You”

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Date: November 11, 2022

Start Time: 12 p.m. EST

End Time: 1 p.m. EST

Platform: Zoom

Questions: Chat

Click here for Free Ticket: Kelly McDonald

The people you work with may be from a different generation, different culture, different race, different gender, or just a different philosophy toward work and life in general, but you need to work together toward a common goal. How to Work With and Lead People Not Like You explains how to dial down the differences, smooth out the friction, and play upon each other’s strengths to become more effective, more productive, and less stressed. The keys are to find the common ground and identify hidden conflicts that are hurting productivity.

Many people shudder at the prospect of working with diverse groups of people, but they can’t voice their fear or anxiety. At work, it’s not OK or politically correct to say, ‘I’m uncomfortable with this person.’ In fact, if you do say something along those lines, your job may be at risk. Your company may terminate you for not being on the ‘diversity bandwagon.’ So you keep quiet and you keep your thoughts to yourself. But deep down, you are uncomfortable.

If you feel like this, it doesn’t mean you’re racist, sexist, ageist, homophobic, or any other negative label. It means you’re struggling.

You’re struggling to understand people, cultures, or values that are unfamiliar to you. You’re struggling to do your job with teammates and coworkers who may have very different viewpoints or different approaches to communication than you have. You’re struggling to overcome differences and pull together to achieve high performance at work.

Whether you’re leading a diverse team, working in a challenging cross-cultural environment, or simply working with people who are ‘not like you,’ you need to be able to get along with everyone as a team, to get the work done. This book explains the skills you need to communicate, motivate, and inspire people to collaborate—even if they have very different values, lifestyles, or priorities.

  • Learn key steps that bring cohesion to diversity
  • How to have a constructive conversation about working alongside people who are different
  • The four magic words that make this easier and smooth over friction
  • What not to say—and why
  • Learn to set aside differences and get things done
  • Learn how to handle a racist, sexist, homophobic or offensive remark in a professional way
  • Retain your sanity when colleagues drive you crazy

The changing demographics of today’s workforce bring conflicting viewpoints, perspectives, approaches, skills, habits, and personalities together in one place; whether that leads to synergy or catastrophe is up to you. How to Work With and Lead People Not Like You helps you turn a hurdle into an advantage so you or your team can do more, achieve more, and enjoy the ride.

Author

Kelly McDonald is considered one of the nation’s top experts in diversity, equity, and inclusion, leadership, marketing, the customer experience, and consumer trends. She is the founder of McDonald Marketing, which has twice been named one of the “Top Ad Agencies in the U.S.” by Advertising Age magazine and ranked as one of the fastest-growing independently-owned companies in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine.

Although Kelly specializes in multicultural and diversity in all aspects of business, her definition of diversity goes way beyond racial and ethnic diversity. Her philosophy is that any way you can be different from another person is “diversity”. In addition to race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and sexuality, Kelly’s definition of “diversity” includes aspects that we don’t always think about or may not traditionally be considered as diverse, but definitely come into play at work when we are working with other people.

For example, introverts are different than extroverts. Analytical thinkers (engineers, accountants, scientists, etc.) are different than creative thinkers (artists, graphic designers, florists, hair stylists, etc.) Someone who lives in a loft in Manhattan is different than someone who lives on a ranch in Wyoming. Parents are different than those who aren’t parents. Morning people are different than night owls. People who make decisions quickly and decisively are different than those who prefer to ponder information. Those who like to collaborate and work in groups are different than those who prefer to work alone.

Kelly is a sought-after speaker and was named one of the “10 Most Booked Speakers in the U.S.”.

She has been featured on CNBC, in Forbes, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fast Company, on CNNMoney.com and more.

She is the author of four bestselling books on diversity & inclusion, marketing, the customer experience and leadership.

Her latest is: “It’s Time to Talk about Race at Work: Every Leader’s Guide to Making Progress on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion”.

Kelly lives in Denver, and when she’s not on the road speaking, she enjoys boxing (yes, boxing, not kickboxing) – and shopping for high heels.

Updated: 6:52 pm

About the author
Marc Kramer of Stress Free Family Business is a member of XPX Philadelphia

When the parents want to prepare their children to take over the business and/or when the parents and kids are fighting with each other and a cooler experienced head is needed.