The Purple Garage Door

A couple of years ago, I was driving alone through a nearby neighborhood, when I passed a house with a bright purple garage door.

It caught me so off guard that I audibly and involuntarily said, "Whoa!" That was partly because the purple was so vibrant and partly because that's the last color I would pick for my own garage door. I was silently and subconsciously judging that person for having what I considered unusual taste in garage door colors, when not 10 seconds later I passed ANOTHER house with a bright purple garage door!

In my work I find myself reminding leaders and working professionals "other people are not like you." Their differences are not a problem. It's just different. And it's good.

Seeing this second house reset my own mindset about differences, and instead of feeling judgy toward these people who have different preferences than me, it made me want to meet them, talk to them, and learn more about they way they think and what makes them unique.

Some of our best partners and advocates are people who think, feel, and behave very differently than us. Don't miss out on the benefits and joy of having more diversity in the people in your life.

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One of our most popular workshops at Tailored Consulting is a Strengths-Based Development workshop for teams. We use the CliftonStrengths assessment (previously called StrengthsFinder) to help teams improve working relationships and collaborate better as a team. Contact us if you'd like to learn more about doing a workshop like this with your team.