It is time to shift the focus from gender equality to people’s unique qualities!

This past Sunday, March 8th, the world celebrated International Women’s Day.

It was great to see many cultural, educational, political and business leaders recognize and celebrate the progress society has made towards gender equality. And although we haven’t yet reached the full equality here, it is time to change the way we approach it in order to boost creation of a better world for current and future generations.

By focusing on gender equality we are only making a small interim step. It is a forward movement for sure, but barely enough to make significant advancement in the society which requires significant improvements. It is time to start focusing on the ultimate goal!

Gender equality is of a paramount importance, no doubt, but focusing on it too much overshadows the ultimate need for unique skills, perspectives, experiences, ideas, and  thoughts that when combined will move society beyond our imagination. All of us need to commit to proactively seek each others’ differences and learn how to get synergy by combining those differences when creating something new or solving a challenge.

Unique qualities have nothing to do with gender (which is, by the way, more than the conventional men and women), skin color, ethnicity, nationality or other parameters determined at birth. It is rather our life experiences, learned skills, practical and theoretical knowledge that play determining role in shaping our unique qualities.

Paying attention to and leveraging people’s unique qualities is not a luxury, but rather a necessity that will keep communities and businesses viable, competitive and able to innovate. If we don’t maximize the power of our differences and the way they come together to create exciting things with existential value, as a society we will end up with only a mediocre progress at most.

 Here are my personal commitments to maximizing the power of uniqueness:

1. Dedicate time to understanding unique qualities of people I interact with
2. Help people I interact with determine the ways to leverage their unique qualities in order to achieve their dreams

And what will you do today to encourage every individual to uncover and apply their unique qualities to the fullest?