How Embracing The Diversity Within You Unlocks Your Superpowers

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

South Asian. Immigrant. Muslim.

Afdhel Aziz was born in Sri Lanka and then went onto a 20 year career in London and New York, working for iconic global companies like Procter and Gamble, Nokia, Heineken and Absolut Vodka. With three passports, seven tattoos and one strange accent, he shares his journey and insights to find his authentic self and unlock his superpowers.

Names are strange things. Sometimes you grow up loving yours. Sometimes you grow up wishing that yours was different.

When I was 17 years old, I moved from Sri Lanka, the tiny island off the South Coast of India where I was born and raised, to London, where I started university at King’s College London, studying for a degree in English Literature.

And one of the first things I did was change my name to ‘Sonny’.

Now you may ask why 'Sonny'? Well, I wanted to pick a name that was culturally neutral: Sonny Rollins, Sonny Chiba, Sonny Bono (!) ….you can find the name in so many different parts of the world.

But more to the point, I wanted to pick a name that would be simple to say and easy to spell. I was sick of having to spell out my entire name A-F-D-H-E-L, only to be called Alfred or Abdul or everything in between.

So for many years, I asked people to call me that. To this day, there are still people in the UK who know me as that person.

Today, I realize that this is a common tactic adopted by so many of us as we enter corporate life. We sand down our ‘ethnic’ sounding names – Ibrahim becomes ‘Abe’, Zhao becomes ‘Joe’ – or we adopt new names altogether. Why? Because we want to blend into the Anglo-Caucasian culture that is the dominant one in so many global corporations.

My name isn’t the only thing I changed. My accent did too. When I was rising through the ranks in corporate life in Britain, I would speak with a crisp British accent. When I moved to New York in 2007, and started moving through corporate America, it changed into an American one.

Why? So I could blend in again. So I could be a chameleon and adapt to my surroundings. So I could build relationships and get promotions and pay rises, and work permits that would let me stay in the country I was in.

(Side note: my wife once said ‘you sounded way more intelligent with a British accent, why did you change it?’ Sigh.)

Having a Muslim name in America in the post-911 world wasn’t easy either. My full name is Muhammad Afdhel Aziz and for a period of several years, every single time I entered the United States, I was hauled off to secondary processing, sitting in small rooms in airports for two hours while officers asked me questions about the purpose of my visit.

Why? Because my name happened to be the same as someone else who was on a terrorist watchlist. That’s right, it was so common a problem that US immigration service has a term for it: “Watchlist Misidentification”.

My name, that incidentally is the most common given name in the world – an estimated 150 million people worldwide have the name ‘Muhammad’. Add the very common ‘Aziz’ and it’s like being called ‘John Smith’.

My stellar career, my track record of business success, my credibility and reputation didn’t matter one jot. To the system, I was just another brown face with a ‘suspicious’ name.

These stories are sadly not unique to me: so many fellow immigrants have the same or worse tales to share about systemic discrimination that they have had to endure.

The ‘random’ security checks at airports. The anxiety of having to ask your company for a work permit in addition to a job. The strange glances from colleagues if you wear something like a hijab, or eat food that smells exotic.

And what is worse is that today that suspicion has blossomed into full-grown hatred. It is heartbreaking to see the acts of anti-AAPI violence that have seemingly become normalized in the United States, with news stories relating new incidents every day.

Blending in, and being a chameleon, and sucking up all the indignities along the way lead to me having a successful twenty year career in business, working for some of the biggest companies on the planet. It gave me three passports – Sri Lankan, British and American – and the ability to build a good life for myself and my family.

But something happened. Somewhere along the way, I realized that all these different parts of my cultural identity combined to make something truly unique – and unlocked my superpowers.

I am a citizen of the world, with the ability to see multiple perspectives at the same time.

Because I grew up in the developing world in South Asia, I have a unique perspective on what it's like to be part of that culture – almost 25% of the world. Because of my Muslim upbringing, I have a deep understanding and respect of the traditions of that faith practiced by more than 2 billion people. I am a first-generation immigrant to not one but two different countries, bringing the lessons of that journey and all it's complexities with me.

I speak three languages - French, Singhalese and English - and I spent years working for the Finns (Nokia), the Dutch (Heineken) and the Swedes (Absolut Vodka). I’ve spent decades working and traveling in every part of the world – South America, Europe, Asia, Africa. You can drop me in any city or culture in the world, and I am completely comfortable and adaptable.

I love so many things from so many different cultures around the world. I love New York hip hop, Japanese food, holidays in Italy. I’ve gotten tattoos in Amsterdam, Marrakesh, Toronto, Brooklyn, LA and many other places. I’m obsessed with Australian architecture documentaries on Youtube, and I watch trashy TV shows like ‘Luxe Listings’ on Netflix. I love teaching my eight year old son Nuri to play the drums to the White Stripes.

Since leaving corporate life, I’ve built a multi-million dollar strategic consultancy with clients in North America, Western Europe and Australia, that has helped Fortune 500 companies invest millions of dollars in causes ranging from racial justice in education to food insecurity.

I travel around the world as a professional speaker, inspiring employees to find their own Purpose, so they can unlock the awesome power of business as a force for good.

Yes, I have a strange accent ….but I’m the only one in the world with it. There’s no one else who speaks like me.

I am one of one.

I have a global perspective that in this interconnected, inter-dependent age is invaluable. I am not just a member of a diverse community – there is a diversity within me that is worth celebrating and honoring.

This picture of me and my wife at a recent friend's Deevali party sums it up. I’m wearing a sarong, a traditional Sri Lankan garment, with my favorite Adidas high top sneakers

Today, this is who I am in all my complex and idiosyncratic truth. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone other than me, and I feel completely comfortable in it.

So I encourage you to do the same. Stop worrying about what box you fit into. Make your own damn box. Stop worrying about what country or culture you belong to and make your own Republic of One.

Because the world needs you in all your richness and uniqueness. It needs the one-of-a-kind fantastic-ness that is you, with all your contradictions and individuality. There is no one else like you, and there will never be anyone else like you.

So go out there and make history by just being yourself.

Hi. My name is Muhammad Afdhel Aziz. It’s great to meet you.