The benefits of diversity in teams and why it’s worth talking to different people

A few weeks ago, I was sitting at a long dinner table with a client.

It had been a full day. A long workshop. Hours of facilitation. Conversations that required focus and energy. I was tired.

Really tired.

The kind of tired where you don’t want to explain yourself. You don’t want to make an effort. You just want to sit, listen, and let the evening pass.

There were many people at the table. Different conversations happening at once. Noise. Movement. Energy.

In front of me sat an older man.

He spoke English with a strong American accent. Not easy for me to follow in that loud environment.

If I’m honest, I had zero motivation to start a conversation.

In another moment, I would have stayed quiet.

But something in me said: try.

So I gave myself a small challenge.

Just talk to him.

The moment everything shifted

At first, it was slow.

We both had to make an effort to understand each other. The noise didn’t help.

But after a few minutes, something clicked.

The conversation started to flow.

And then I realized something.

This man was fascinating.

He had spent decades in software sales.

He had traveled the world.

He had worked with companies at every level.

He started sharing stories.

How to identify strategic clients.

How to build trust early.

How to position value in complex sales environments.

He shared methods I had never heard before.

He walked me through SPIN Selling, Value-Based Selling, andMEDDICC.

We spoke for hours.

By the end of the night, we were fully engaged in conversation, almost forgetting the rest of the table.

We connected.

What happens when we don’t speak

I kept thinking about it later.

What if I hadn’t said anything?

Nothing dramatic would have happened.

The evening would have passed. I would have gone sleep. Life would continue.

But I would have missed something valuable.

A perspective I didn’t have.

A connection I didn’t expect.

A set of ideas that expanded how I think about sales and relationships.

And this is the part we often underestimate.

We don’t miss what we don’t see.

When we stay in our comfort zone, everything feels fine.

But by not trying, we are losing opportunities.

Not because they are not there.

But because we don’t reach for them.

Why difference can feel uncomfortable

Talking to someone very different from us is not always easy.

Different age.

Different culture.

Different language.

Different context.

It requires effort.

Sometimes it feels awkward.

Sometimes it feels slow.

Sometimes we are afraid of not understanding or not being understood.

So we avoid it.

We stay with people who are similar to us.

Who think like us.

Who speak like us.

It feels efficient.

But it is also limiting.

Because growth rarely comes from sameness.

It comes from friction.

From contrast.

From seeing the world through a different lens.

Growing Up with More Than One Perspective

When I was a child, I went to a public school.
My mother was a teacher, and she always wanted us there.

Not for convenience, but for perspective.

To understand that there are other realities.
To see what we have.
To meet people from different countries, different contexts, different ways of thinking.
In public school I had to learn to adapt.
To listen.
To understand.

That experience changed me.

It teached me something simple but powerful:
what you see is not the truth.
It’s just your perspective.

That has helped me a lot in life.
To connect with different people.
To stay curious.
To question my own view.

Lately, I feel things are becoming more extreme.
More polarized.

And honestly, it worries me.

Because in many cases, it’s not about disagreement.
It’s about lack of perspective.

And it’s also a lack of diversity.

Benefits of diversity in teams: The power of different perspectives

There is a reason why diverse teams perform better.

Multiple studies show that teams with different backgrounds, ages, and perspectives make better decisions.

They challenge assumptions and avoid blind spots.

In my experience, people older than me bring something I cannot replicate.

Perspective.

They have seen cycles.

Trends.

Mistakes.

Patterns.

And people younger than me bring something equally valuable.

Energy.

New ideas.

New ways of thinking.

New signals about where the world is going.

They question things I take for granted.

They move faster.

They experiment more.

When you combine both, something powerful happens.

You get grounded thinking with fresh momentum.

And that only happens if you are willing to connect.

A small challenge for you

Next time you are in a meeting, an event, or even sitting at a restaurant, try something simple.

Look around.

Find someone who feels different from you.

Maybe older.

Maybe younger.

Maybe from another country.

And start a conversation.

Keep it simple and ask questions.

Listen.

Stay a bit longer than what feels comfortable.

You don’t need to force anything.

But please, give it a chance.

Because behind that small moment of discomfort, there might be something unexpected.

A new idea.

A new connection.

A new way of seeing things.

And sometimes, that is all it takes to shift how you think, how you work, and how you show up.

Try it.

And if you do, I’d love to hear what happens.