0:00

diversity and inclusion work doesn't change

0:02

much. Not because people don't

0:04

care, but because they won't ask the

0:06

hard questions. But we're going to

0:08

change that for you today. I'm

0:11

Dr Jonathan. I've got a PhD

0:13

in your problems and I'm on a

0:15

mission to help a million people like you

0:17

to make your workplace inclusive. Get

0:19

your pen and paper ready because

0:21

we're talking about five brutal

0:23

inclusion questions leaders are afraid to

0:25

answer. There's a

0:27

lot of so -called DEI work that isn't

0:29

work at all. It's well -meaning noise.

0:32

You end up with initiatives that look

0:34

good on a slide deck but deliver

0:36

nothing. And I've got five questions

0:38

that are going to cut through

0:40

all of that. They're designed to

0:42

challenge assumptions, create productive discomfort, and

0:45

start real conversations in your workplace.

0:47

from this week. And so if you're

0:49

a people leader, these are questions

0:51

that are going to reveal the gap

0:53

between what you say you're doing

0:55

and what you're actually building. So

0:57

here's what we're going to cover today. One,

1:00

how removing events exposes the

1:02

real state of inclusion work.

1:04

Two, why your CFO's respect,

1:06

not just your CEO, defines

1:08

a strong business case. And

1:10

three, how recognizing

1:13

your diversity hierarchy reveals

1:15

hidden organizational priorities. And

1:18

as always, I'm going to wrap up with a key

1:20

message and a question for you to answer to

1:22

make sure that this sticks for you. Okay,

1:24

when I said get your pen and paper ready,

1:27

I meant that literally because I'm going to

1:29

ask you five questions. I want you to ask

1:31

yourself the answer to these questions. So number

1:33

one, if we removed all our

1:35

social events, what would we have

1:37

left? I say this because

1:39

Flags Food and Fun, it's a

1:41

staple of mainstream DEI work. Parties,

1:43

parades, panel events, it looks great

1:45

on social media, it doesn't look

1:47

great when it's challenged, when you're

1:50

challenged about outcomes and achievements. And

1:52

this is often a hiding place

1:54

for a lack of competence or

1:56

a lack of clarity about what

1:58

needs to be done. So think

2:00

about that seriously. Remove

2:02

all your social events. What

2:04

do you have left? For me, That's

2:06

what you've really got as the basis

2:09

of your inclusion work. For some of

2:11

you, this will be encouraging. For

2:13

some of you, this will be

2:15

discouraging. Now, if you haven't been challenged

2:17

like this before, that's okay, but

2:19

you should reconsider who's advising you. The

2:22

good news, I'm your number one

2:24

trusted advisor. Question number two,

2:26

do you have a business case

2:28

for diversity or inclusion or

2:31

equity that your CFO respects? Now,

2:33

spot the bias. I

2:36

said CFO, Chief Financial Officer,

2:38

instead of CEO, Chief

2:40

Executive Officer. Why? Well,

2:43

one thing is I'm an accountant in a

2:45

former life, so this is indicative of my own

2:47

bias. But the second thing

2:49

is because when I work with

2:51

clients, that's the person who often

2:53

needs to be impressed. They think

2:55

in quite structured ways that historically

2:57

benefit the business. That's why they've

2:59

got that job. It's not complicated. They

3:02

think like this, if we

3:04

spend this money, what thing we

3:06

want will go up or

3:08

if we spend this money what

3:10

things that we don't want

3:12

will go down and then how

3:14

can we be sure it's

3:16

amazing how many people can't answer

3:18

this simple question. Because frankly,

3:20

this is the basis of your

3:22

business case for diversity, equity,

3:24

inclusion, whatever words you want to

3:26

choose, no fluff, no buzzwords,

3:28

no fake research, just a credible

3:30

business case that your executive

3:32

team can take seriously. Now,

3:34

if your CFO backs it, it becomes

3:37

very hard for other people not

3:39

to back it. Let me say that

3:41

again. If your CFO backs it,

3:43

It becomes very hard for other people

3:45

not to back it. Make

3:47

sure you check out the show notes because I

3:49

want to put you on a waiting list for

3:51

something that we are developing that will help you

3:53

to figure this out for yourself. Question

3:56

three. What is

3:59

the diversity hierarchy in your

4:01

organization? Now, once again, I use

4:03

the term diversity quite loosely, but I find

4:05

it to be the most appropriate. Every

4:07

organization has one, whether

4:09

it's spoken or unspoken. In

4:11

your organization, Some identities, some

4:14

values, some behaviors are more important

4:16

than others. We made a whole show

4:18

about this. I have never met

4:20

an organization that did not have a

4:22

clear diversity hierarchy. It doesn't mean

4:24

that they were communicating it effectively, but

4:26

everybody has one. So the real

4:28

question is, do you know what that

4:30

looks like where you work? And

4:32

also, do you know why? Because

4:34

if you ignore this, you're not going to make a

4:37

lot of progress. Question number

4:39

four. Can your executive team

4:41

explain your inclusion strategy without

4:43

a script? If

4:45

your senior leaders need coaching before speaking

4:47

about inclusion, then they don't own it.

4:49

And it also means they don't understand

4:51

it. If they can't explain it, they

4:53

can't lead it. So this is all

4:55

about leadership accountability, not comms,

4:57

not PR. This is why

5:00

emotional appeals don't work, and

5:02

this is indicative of the rhetorical

5:04

problem of diversity and inclusion.

5:06

Ancient Greek traditions encouraged rhetoric. This

5:08

is the art of using

5:10

language effectively and persuasively. They gifted

5:12

us three modes of persuasion.

5:14

Ethos is about credibility and trustworthiness.

5:16

Pathos is about feelings and emotions.

5:19

Logos is about logic and

5:21

evidence. If your inclusion strategy

5:23

is based around an emotional argument,

5:25

honestly, your leaders aren't going to

5:27

be able to make that land

5:30

every single time if they have

5:32

to summon these emotions. But logic,

5:34

authority, credibility, that's what they do

5:36

all day long. Don't ignore that, make

5:38

it make sense to them, then it

5:40

can make sense to everyone else. Okay,

5:42

the fifth and final question, and

5:44

it's an awkward one, is what system

5:47

or methodology are you following? Because

5:49

if you can't name it, you're probably

5:51

making it up as you go

5:53

along. Inclusion isn't a side hustle. It

5:55

needs a process. It needs a

5:57

structure just like every other business critical

6:00

function. And you won't be surprised

6:02

to hear that the system, the methodology

6:04

that we recommend is evidence -based inclusion.

6:07

This means gathering evidence from four

6:09

key sources. One is the

6:11

academic literature. Two is data

6:13

from your organization. Three are

6:15

stakeholders, people who are affected by

6:17

the decisions you make. And four

6:19

is professional expertise, yours and other

6:21

people's. We also have a six

6:24

step process that we use all

6:26

the time. This is how we

6:28

build inclusion in organizations. This

6:30

is how we build it consistently. And

6:33

I encourage you to do the

6:35

same because random acts of inclusion, they're

6:37

not a strategy. And so I

6:39

want you to ask yourself these five

6:41

questions. Even if you don't have

6:43

the answers that you want, please know

6:46

that this podcast exists to help

6:48

you to get the right answers. And

6:50

if you need any help, always

6:52

reach out to me directly. So

6:54

let's wrap this up. What are the key

6:56

messages here? One, social events

6:58

are no substitute for a real

7:00

inclusion strategy. Two, emotional

7:02

storytelling is optional, structured

7:05

credibility is not. And

7:07

three, sustainable inclusion work

7:09

requires a clear methodology. So

7:12

what do you think? Are you gonna

7:14

answer these five questions this week? Send me

7:16

a message directly. if you want to

7:18

discuss this further. If you've learned

7:20

something from today's show, then give us a

7:22

Firestar review and a comment wherever you're listening

7:24

to the podcast. It helps other people like

7:26

you to find the show. Thanks

7:28

for listening and I'll see you in

7:30

the next episode.