Rainbow is my favorite color. This week, we kicked off the first Signature program for 2019 in Charlotte, where I met 40 unique colors of them.
I took this photo when I was in Amsterdam because the message struck me. I thought it could be a tag line for Signature.
I was reminded of the picture recently, when I heard the song “True Colors” by Justin Timberlake (originally sung by Cindy Lauper). You can listen to it in this video.
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful
I see your true colors
Shining through (true colors)
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful (they’re beautiful)
Like a rainbow
Rainbows are beautiful, but it takes sunshine and rain together to create them. Interestingly, two people standing side by side, looking at the same rainbow, see different colors because they are viewing it through different raindrops. What a great metaphor for the different perspectives we each bring to our companies and why we all should be focused on bringing more “colors” into our organizations.
Take a pause and do this right now for 2 minutes: Look around your current environment and find everything that is green. They can be different hues, but they must be green. Count how many green things you can find.
Now, without looking again, think: how many red items did you see?
When you are looking for one color, you can easily find what you are looking for. If you allow yourself to do this in business, you can miss what is right in front of you because you are only looking for green. We all fall into this trap from time to time.
If you think back to the last time you bought a new car, something similar happens. You start to see that same make, model, and even color everywhere! It is natural to take note of the things that you recognize and can relate to.
To be fair, I have my own unconscious biases. When I look at some of my hires during my career, I can see how that group represents a narrow band of colors. They were the green hues you noticed earlier. Over time, I began to see the value in adding more colors to my organizational rainbow. Best of all, I was more appreciative of the diverse views from those other colors. And now, rainbow is my favorite color.
We read so much about diversity, and then we label it. We talk about gender diversity, ethnic diversity, cultural diversity, and more. What if we think about it as broadening the spectrum on our organizational rainbow? We just need to construct our rainbows with every color we can find.
Every one of you have your own color. And whatever color you are, make it shine!
