Unity Through Difference: What American Identity Can Teach Leaders About Belonging
Independence Day celebrations have come to an end…
But many of us may still be thinking about national identity. Flags, anthems, sparklers — while recognizable symbols, they simplify something quite complex.
What does it really mean to be an American? Some days, the answer is harder to understand than others.
In theory, America was founded on ideals: liberty, justice, and a chance at the American dream. Rather than preserving any single politic, religion, culture, or ancestry, the idea was a nation committed to the freedom of difference.
But in practice, those ideals were tested. Is justice administered fairly? Do communities have equal access to opportunity? Are differences respected? Unless that on-the-ground reality matches up, those foundational values get lost. The dissonance leaves people feeling alienated from their national identity as a result.
The lesson: When leaders honor differences through an environment of universal belonging where values align in word and action, they nurture communities, towns, cities — and teams — that thrive.
US History 101 (Abridged)
For anyone who needs it, here are the Cliff's notes:
In 1776, after years of tensions between the British government and its American colonies over taxation, representation, and autonomy, founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, along with 53 others, signed the Declaration of Independence. The US would forthwith be a nation free from monarchy and British rule. The Revolutionary War had already begun and would continue for years, but in 1783, Britain acknowledged defeat, and the US began its experiment: a pluralistic democracy built on ideals of liberty, justice, and opportunity.
Over nearly 250 years since, those ideals confronted obstacles: inequity, exclusion, systemic injustice. Though rooted in freedom, early American policies still disadvantaged women, enslaved people, and many others. Even today, long after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, equality is still a vision in progress.
Ideals Take Striving Towards
As with any new model of organization, the national experiment has evolved since its founding days. And it continues to evolve, which is what makes it so brilliant. We now know that the ideal can withstand short term challenges as long as we always aim back toward it once we remember the need to self-evaluate. If our founding fathers had access to modern data and analytics, perhaps they might have expected and better prepared us for the ups, downs, and lessons learned along the way.
Even still, their experiment in unity through difference has proven to be a powerful model. Around the world, people know the US for having the largest economy. In 2024, its media and entertainment industry captured over $660 billion of the $2.3 trillion global market. The nation’s largest cities grew to be so successful because they embraced a cultural identity that was flexible, contextual, and resilient. We learned inclusion fostered values like belonging, benevolence, and civic responsibility — first in schools, then in business and government — and kept correcting along the way.
Leadership takeaways from the American identity
Like the American identity, an organization’s workforce evolves as it embraces new cultures, generations, and regions. Across those differences, more people will feel like they belong when they can rally around a shared purpose founded in mutual respect. We’ve written for enough executives to see how the American identity can translate into insights for stronger leadership.
Making diverse groups of people feel included is good for business. According to a BetterUp survey of nearly 2,000 employees across industries:
“Employees who feel a strong sense of belonging… experience a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% reduction in turnover risk, and a 75% decrease in sick days;
“If all workers at a 10,000-person company felt a high degree of belonging, productivity gains would top $52 million a year; and,
“Employees who feel they belong are 167% more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work to others.”
Instead of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” align teams around growth, mission impact, or client satisfaction. Invite multiple perspectives to the decision-making table. Codify values like respect, belonging, and inclusion by embedding them into daily operations for visible and consistent reminders. Celebrate differences as strengths. Accept identity — be it personal, cultural, or organizational — not as fixed, but as something continuously shaped by values and action.
Difference is a feature, not a glitch
There’s a reason the business case for diversity and inclusion always focuses on innovation — insights across differences into how decisions impact different people results in the creation of more relevant products and services. It’s as true in a marketplace as it is in a democracy. By inviting more voices into the conversation, we build systems that serve more people.
At this very moment, the new generation is already reshaping what it means to be “American” based on their lived experience. Gen Z’s sharper focus on inclusion, mental health, and authenticity has already expanded into the national narrative. Multicultural communities have introduced new languages and hybrid traditions. Patriotic symbols look different from Appalachia to the Pacific Northwest.
These generational, regional, and cultural shifts have always been a part of our expanding national identity. And being American has always been about working together to sustain that shared, evolving experiment. It’s how we’ve come as far as we have so far. As long as we remember to self-evaluate and realign with those founding values, we can overcome challenges and thrive.
