Coaching at Work road-tests the Diversity Awareness Ladder
One step at a time
1 The tool
What is it?
Created by David Clutterbuck, the Diversity Awareness Ladder helps clients and practitioners understand and work with their stereotypes and implicit biases about people they perceive as different from themselves. It has also been used widely in general diversity education.
How does it work?
The Ladder is a model of two conversations – the inner conversation, which represents instinctive, emotional responses to difference and is not normally spoken out loud; and the outer conversation, which offers a way of engaging with the other person to counter and overcome the concerns of the inner conversation.
On the early steps, people tend to avoid conversation with the “different” person or group – often for positive reasons, such as not wanting to offend by saying the wrong thing.
When a client defines where they are on the ladder, they have a starting point for addressing the assumptions and concerns that prevent them having fully open conversations that genuinely value difference.
2 Using the tool
The experience
I have found the Ladder to work well in getting individuals to recognise, then explore, their own attitudes to diversity and how they reflect in the choices they make and their actions.
It can also help managers as coaches to see how difference can be a real business benefit. It is a good tool when there is a lot of emotion involved, as it helps you to be more objective.
I have used the Ladder as an integral part of a diversity mentoring programme, training the mentees and mentors in its use. This starts the process of open dialogue. The Ladder, particularly for people who like a structured approach, provides a non-threatening way to reflect on what are usually their very private thoughts, in a safe mentoring environment.
The movement, in attitude, from
any level towards ‘Appreciation’, is surprisingly quick. The challenge is in supporting the mentee in transferring new thinking into new behaviours with positive outcomes, which (as with most personal change) can take a bit longer!
I have used the Ladder extensively in mentoring and coaching. The conversations it can open up from a simple comment made by a client are often the best place to start. Many times I have seen this leading to an “Aha!” moment, so I can help the mentee begin re-writing new inclusive conversations that lead to a greater appreciation of ‘others’ who are different.
The application
The effectiveness comes from the Ladder’s simplicity of use for almost any diversity situation where a new way of thinking, doing or being, is desirable.
I was facilitating a black & minority ethnic (BAME) group, helping them understand and use the strengths and skills that each brought to the group. Some had some strongly held beliefs about the mainly white male middle-aged senior management. This was reflected in some of the shared negative experiences some had in their careers, which had had an impact on their ability to be fully effective in working with the board/senior management in progressing concerns of the BAME staff.
The Ladder helped staff with their fears of being open and honest with their board sponsor. The group’s chair was able to adopt a number of new perspectives, including a paradigm shift in how they viewed the white middle-aged board director. I’d arranged for the board director, the group’s sponsor, to explore opportunities with them. He was “hoping for a nice group that would help identify diversity issues in the organisations and potential solutions”.
Our conversations identified ‘fears and wariness’ he held of working with ‘groups like that’ who he thought could become hostile. Using the Ladder I was able to work through a strategy with him to work with the group constructively.
Using the Ladder with both parties meant they had a common approach to tackle difficult diversity issues.
The tool works equally well in structured mentoring conversations where diversity issues have been identified. It’s as if the mentee has been given ‘licence to speak freely’ and articulate experiences in a way not possible before.
The verdict
The tool is versatile and works as a stand-alone or as part of a wider range of tools and techniques. It’s simple to understand – the skill is in applying it in a reflexive manner. One of its strengths is that the descriptors for the inner and outer conversations use language that appeals intellectually and emotionally. The questions it asks enables individuals, and groups, to talk about things that are normally hidden deep in one’s psyche.
Gurbinder S Bahra is managing partner, Shiksha Partnership
Diversity Awareness Ladder: pros and cons
UPSIDE
Simple and easy to understand
Linear, with a clear goal
Applicable to any diversity issue
Used in mentoring or coaching
Releases people from old experiences and thinking
Powerful paradigm shift
DOWNSIDE
Too restrictive for lateral thinkers
Can open up a ‘Pandora’s box’ of emotions
Mentor/coach must be open
Can get hung up on descriptors
Volume 7, issue 6