Podcast Episode 45 – Authentic Diversity: When Different Needs Create Deeper Connections with Lambers Fisher

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Marriage and family therapist Lambers Fisher, a national speaker on multicultural awareness and diversity, shares transformative insights on bridging cultural gaps in both personal and professional relationships. Drawing from his therapeutic experience, Lambers reveals how understanding different needs—whether in communication styles, cultural backgrounds, or neurodiversity—can strengthen relationships rather than divide them. Through practical examples and shame-free strategies, he demonstrates how the same principles that help couples communicate can create more inclusive workplaces where everyone feels safe to be themselves. This episode offers a refreshing approach to diversity that moves beyond policies and procedures to focus on genuine human connection and understanding.

Different Needs, Stronger Teams: A Conversation with Lambers Fisher

When two people sit down to discuss a project, they bring their whole history with them. One speaks loudly and quickly, having grown up in a family where you had to speak up to be heard. The other stays quiet, having learned that raised voices signal conflict. Neither approach is wrong – they’re just meeting different needs in different ways. This pattern plays out in offices, teams, and relationships everywhere, often creating unnecessary tension and misunderstandings.

That’s where Lambers Fisher’s work makes a difference. As a marriage and family therapist with over 20 years of experience and a national speaker on multicultural awareness, he sees these communication patterns repeat across workplaces and relationships. In this episode, Fisher shares how he noticed many of his colleagues wanted to help more diverse clients but weren’t sure how, while potential clients worried that therapists wouldn’t understand their background. “You got two people on both sides saying ‘I could use some help, and I want to help, but I don’t think you want to see me,'” Fisher explains.

Drawing from his experience helping couples communicate, Fisher demonstrates how the same principles can strengthen workplace relationships. He emphasizes looking beyond policies and procedures to focus on human connection. As he explains, “If we view every professional relationship as just another kind of relationship, then we can say, hey, that’s not about the right or the wrong, the policy, the procedures, the initiative, what we put on the website… [it’s about] how can we incentivize people to care about each other.”

One key insight Fisher shares is about creating space for different communication styles in meetings. Rather than expecting quieter team members to match more assertive speakers, he suggests mutual accountability. The more assertive speakers can intentionally create gaps in conversation, while quieter members can preemptively ask for space to share their thoughts. It’s about finding ways to be “authentically you and sometimes being authentically you in the consideration of the other person.”

Fisher challenges the common approach of trying to punish people into caring about diversity. Instead, he advocates for helping people recognize that they already care and identifying what might be getting in the way of showing it. “I believe that you already care, but I think there’s some things getting in the way of you showing it,” he explains. “Let’s work together to reduce some of those barriers.”

When it comes to neurodiversity in the workplace, Fisher points out how our understanding is evolving. “The more and more we talk about it, the more and more we make safe the language of neurodiversity, we don’t have to make it a negative thing,” he says. He emphasizes creating environments where everyone can feel safe being themselves while acknowledging their different needs.

Throughout the conversation, Fisher returns to a central theme: the power of asking about and understanding others’ needs. Whether in couples therapy or workplace teams, this approach transforms potential conflicts into opportunities for connection. As he puts it, “How can I show you that your need matters, and just ask instead of tell?”

Want to learn more about bridging cultural gaps and strengthening relationships across differences? Listen to the full episode or visit lambersfisher.com. You can also find his book Diversity in Clinical Practice: Practical and Shame-Free Strategies for Reducing Cultural Offenses and Repairing Cross-Cultural Relationships, which offers practical strategies for building stronger connections across cultural differences.