How can you coach reluctant coachees to engage with diversity and inclusion?

1 Understand the sources of reluctance

Before you can coach your coachees to engage with D&I, you need to understand what is holding them back. Reluctance can stem from various sources, such as fear, ignorance, bias, privilege, or complacency. Some coachees may feel threatened by D&I, others may lack awareness or knowledge, and some may have ingrained prejudices or assumptions. Some coachees may also benefit from the status quo and resist change, or simply not see the relevance or value of D&I for themselves or their organization. By identifying the sources of reluctance, you can tailor your coaching approach and interventions to address them.

2 Build trust and rapport

Coaching reluctant coachees to engage with D&I requires a high level of trust and rapport between you and your coachees. You need to create a safe and supportive space where they can express their views, feelings, and concerns without fear of judgment or retaliation. You also need to demonstrate empathy, respect, and curiosity, and avoid lecturing, blaming, or shaming your coachees. You can build trust and rapport by listening actively, asking open-ended questions, acknowledging emotions, providing feedback, and sharing your own experiences and perspectives.

3 Challenge and support

Once you have established trust and rapport, you can start to challenge and support your coachees to engage with D&I. Challenging means helping your coachees to question their assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors, and to explore different perspectives, experiences, and realities. Supporting means helping your coachees to develop their skills, knowledge, and confidence, and to take action and experiment with new ways of thinking and doing. You can challenge and support your coachees by using various coaching tools and techniques, such as reframing, feedback, role-playing, case studies, stories, exercises, and assignments.

4 Celebrate and sustain

The last step is to celebrate and sustain your coachees' engagement with D&I. Celebrating means recognizing and appreciating your coachees' efforts, achievements, and progress, and reinforcing their motivation and commitment. Sustaining means ensuring that your coachees' engagement with D&I is not a one-time event, but a continuous and ongoing process of learning and growth. You can celebrate and sustain your coachees' engagement with D&I by providing positive reinforcement, feedback, and recognition, and by creating opportunities for follow-up, review, and reflection.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?