Overcome Obstacles - A Quick Tip

Tree limbs grow so that the leaves can absorb sunlight, the energy needed to sustain and create growth. Obstacles never stop a tree from finding the sunshine. Limbs bend around buildings, grow over street signs, and through abandoned structures.

In the same way that trees need to be flexible and persistent in their quest to find sunlight, diversity projects need to grow under, through, or around any obstacles that block their path moving forward.

Identifying your project’s sunlight (or energy source) is key to being able to find the way around obstructions in your path.

Action Step: Help employees to identify the “energy source” of your team's work by reminding them of the fundamental goals and direction of the project.

Discussion Questions

1. What is essential to us as a team to sustain our growth?
2. What obstacles have we faced in the past and how have we overcome them? Are there lessons we learned then that can help us now?
3. Overcoming obstacles can require creative thinking - what current projects do we have that could use that creative thinking?
4. Like a tree root, we may need to bend in order to move forward. Are there any processes or procedures that we need to bend or adjust?