Instead, you probably call repeatedly on the same people (who look a lot like you) when you hand out assignments or put together a work team, because you know you speak the same shorthand and work the same way, and you think they can help you get the job done quickly. You most likely also turn to these same people for career advice, because you instinctively trust them and have confidence in their point of view.
But by taking these shortcuts, you shortchange yourself. When General Mills recently considered installing in one of its buildings a large photographic tribute that would include depictions of the Lone Ranger and Tonto, they turned to Ann Merrill, a corporate communications manager who is Native American and descends from the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa tribe. She’s also active in the company’s affinity group for Native Americans.
Merrill recalls discussing which depictions of the famous duo would be respectful to Native Americans and would best reflect their culture. She says that she tries to make herself approachable so that people will come to her with questions such as these. She also reaches out to people in other affinity groups at the company—volunteering at an annual Martin Luther King, Jr., breakfast sponsored by an African-American group, for example—so that she has people she can turn to when she has her own questions.
Expanding your Rolodex might also result in making valuable connections you’d otherwise miss, experts say. Nina Eidell, a vice president of human resources at Allstate, recalls attending a company event where an executive recruiter introduced himself to her. They chatted and stayed in touch, and Allstate eventually hired an executive introduced to her by this recruiter. If Eidell hadn’t cultivated this relationship, she would have missed out on access to all the people in that recruiter’s Rolodex—exactly the kind of resource she needs to excel in her job.
Who do you have lunch with?
Meeting project deadlines, keeping up with email and getting out of work in time to have a family dinner means you don’t have a lot of time for lengthy getting-to-know-you conversations at the office. And when you do have time to go out to lunch, you probably call on one or two reliable lunch buddies—again defaulting to what’s familiar—instead of taking the opportunity to socialize with someone different from yourself.
