Samantha Kemsley, managing director CAO EMEA and chair of Inclusion & Diversity, State Street Bank Limited. (Photo: State Street Bank Limited)

Samantha Kemsley, managing director CAO EMEA and chair of Inclusion & Diversity, State Street Bank Limited. (Photo: State Street Bank Limited)

Our upbringing and values are what shapes us in life. These traits come from our caregivers and their upbringing, and so the pattern somewhat continues from generation to generation. We could choose not to step outside of these patterns, or we could see difference as an opportunity and open ourselves to the possibility that there isn’t just one way to view the world. In this article, I will reflect on difference as an opportunity as well as on missed opportunities to learn more about each other.

My father always said to me, “you don’t go to work to make friends”. He was a great man who worked for 37 years as a chemical engineer, is now 20 years into his retirement and does not have a circle of friends. What a missed opportunity not to make friends at work. What a rich and diverse group of friends one could have when it comes to social and cultural background, experience and much more.

What does having friends at work really mean? I see it as an opportunity to get to know people better. I love to have friends who open my mind to different ways of thinking, working and feeling. What a fantastic opportunity we have had during Covid-19 to do exactly that!

Did you know Dave had a dog? Well, we do now … we hear her bark and howl on conference calls. Because he has Bessie, he will need to take her for walks, so he may do ‘walk and talk’ meetings.

Did you know Nick had a new baby and she loves to jabber on and sing happily away while he’s doing meetings? It also means he is a bit tired!

Not only have we been bringing our ‘whole lives’ to work, we have also become more aware of the stresses and joys within our colleagues’ lives. This knowledge brings kinship and a different kind of friendship. If we don’t reflect on that as a good thing, we risk missing that opportunity to embrace the differences in each other.

Some of us may have had virtual teams for a while, but being fully virtual in all of our interactions has meant that we needed to think more carefully about how both we and our colleagues like to communicate and what cues we can ‘see’. One of the things that amuse me is the faces people pull on video calls – would you really make that face if you were in a room in front of someone? There are so many cues we can look out for that show how people are coping.

As managers and colleagues, we need to be looking out for cues and learning about our teams; otherwise we might miss that opportunity to gain a deeper understanding at an individual level and learn more about ourselves in the process. Difference is opportunity, let’s embrace it together for a more enriching work environment.

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