Leadership in Action: Finding Yourself: How Social Identity Affects Leadership

CHANGING WORKPLACE

In a diverse yet increasingly interconnected world, people more than ever find themselves coming into contact with others whose social identities are different from their own. People may still seek out others like themselves when choosing where to live, what religion to practice, or what clubs and associations to belong to. In the workplace, however, this is becoming less and less possible. A variety of factors, including shifts in the demographic makeup of the workforce, globalization, technological advances, and new forms of organization, mean that people increasingly work alongside others whose social identities are different from their own.

In the early years after CCL was founded in 1970, most of the managers who attended ...