DECEMBER 13, 2023

DEIB’s Truly Top Strategy

Here’s the #1 thing that can change the way DEIB is viewed. It’s truly the top strategy.

Organizations that latch on to this strategy see a shift in leadership’s mindset and move more quickly towards a healthy organizational culture.

It’s not a coincidence that inclusivity is the original DEIB strategy and, frankly, it’s the foundation on which all DEIB efforts should have been built from the start.

The strategy is surprisingly simple…Simply ask yourself one question that will prioritize belonging: Is everyone’s voice being included?

Inclusivity can be defined as not excluding members or participants on the grounds of gender, race, class, sexuality, disability, etc. Yes, this includes White people.

Yes, you heard Tawana say that.

Inclusivity should live across an organization, and it starts with adopting the mindset that each and every person has something to contribute.

When people have a chance to weigh in, they’re more likely to buy in. (By the way, this doesn’t mean that everyone has to, or will, agree with your decisions. It just means that people have a chance to be heard and understood).

I want leaders to recognize they can’t sit in their boardroom without the custodians cleaning it first.

Important presentations are often dependent on members of the IT department.

Paychecks don’t get deposited without the finance team.

We’re all relying on each other more than we realize!

So let’s again and again teach leadership to ask the question, “Is everyone’s voice included?”

When you throw the office party, do you invite the maintenance staff?

When you hold a meeting, do you allow each person the chance to speak?

When you discuss diversity and equity, are both Black and White people included in the conversation?

When we include people they gain a sense of belonging.

Then we are less divided by age, power, or the color of our skin.

This needs to be understood by both the dominant culture and underrepresented people.

White people may be operating out of exclusivity, while People of Color are often operating out of a victim mentality.

The victim mentality keeps us stuck because guilt isn’t a successful long-term motivator.

We want White people to understand that a wrong has occurred, but then we have to move towards solutions.

As Susan Scott has said, ‘The conversation is the relationship.”

Want to make this a reality? Check out our facilitation services.