How can organizational leaders prioritize holistic and integrated diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives amid a growing pushback?
Many organizations are devaluing and defunding the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives they erected in 2020 in the wake of the country’s racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd. Why? Oftentimes, the initiatives weren’t sustainable or aligned to business goals. Whether these corporate responses were fueled by fear of “cancel culture” or a desire to “do the right thing,” the majority of DEI initiatives that are now being scaled back were not designed to create lasting change. Instead, these performative acts merely morphed appearances.
The experts in this EXLEARN Talks episode challenge leaders to embrace the brave and necessary work of understanding the challenges of their organization’s DEI initiatives and learning how to intentionally interweave DEI in every business strategy and decision to impact success. They provide insight on the following questions:
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- 8:27: What is happening today that’s shifting the culture of DEI? What pushback are you seeing in organizations?
- 17:40: What philosophy do leaders need to learn to be able to make the lifestyle change that’s required to continuously focus on DEI in their organizations?
- 22:02: How can leaders respect a person’s agency to define their identity while asking them to adopt their organization’s unique values and ways of working?
- 30:53: For leaders who have implemented DEI initiatives that were either unsustainable or limited in scope, how can they start making a more integrated and holistic push?
- 46:17: How can leaders who have good intentions and are trying different DEI initiatives prevent harmful outcomes?
- 58:10: How can leaders invite their people to do the inner work that’s required to be culturally humble and aware?
Highlights from the Panelists:
“People and organizations are responding to the moment and not to the mission… The mission is to understand that we as humans evolve… People and organizations need to understand that this notion of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and social justice is not going to go away. The conversations merely evolve. And it doesn’t matter what [acronyms you use]. If you don’t value me in my humanity, you do not value me at all.”
– Andrá R. Ward, MSPOD, President and Chief Culture & Transformation Officer at The KhafreWard Corporation
“In my faith tradition, we talk a lot about character being what you do when no one is looking. When no one is patting you on the back, when there’s no extra grant dollars, and you don’t get all these different prizes, can you still do the work? That is the test to understand if you’re really interested in appearances or interested in impact. We need to help individuals understand that this work is about human development. It is a leadership competency. It is about functioning in the world that we live in… And if you do not have this, I now begin to question your effectiveness and impact as an effective leader in any industry.”
– Jesiah Brock, Chaplain and Diversity Executive at YMCA of Greater Cincinnati
“Bravery is required for this work… What bravery will afford you is the willingness to ask questions, to say I don’t know, and to take a risk… Leadership development journeys cannot solely focus on the technical and business acumen. They have to focus on the inclusive leadership components—the competencies that allow a leader to [learn] what resilience means [and understand their blind spots].”
– Victoria Rodgers, Business and Leadership Strategist, Coach, and Facilitator at CenteredSoul Consulting
A Visual Capture of the Discussion:
Designed by Ramsey Ford
