What are effective strategies for building a diverse and inclusive consulting practice?

You and your team must answer the following 8-Questions: 1. What are your Core Values? 2. What is your Core Focus? 3. What is your 10-Year Target? 4. What is your Marketing Strategy? 5. What is your 3-Year Picture? 6. What is your 1-Year Plan? 7. What are your Rocks? 8. What are your Issues (+90 days)? Everything starts with your leadership team. You need to be 100% on the same page with where you are going and how you will get there to achieve your goals. Once you have a clear and shared vision, you must instill discipline and accountability to execute every aspect of your vision. You also need a healthy team. As goes the leadership team, so goes the rest of the organization.

First and foremost you need to be clear as in: 1- what do you want to achieve in your consulting practice? 2- what culture will describe and identify your business? 3- what strength skills do you have to offer to begin with? 4- what is the best team to get you from where you are to your desired goal at this phase? By knowing the above , you will be able to decide and determine your diversity limits and your inclusion. It all starts with you, your business model and business process.

Here is the power of assessing the current state. You identify the challenges that may have been stopping you from even unconsciously from building a diverse and inclusive practice. Digging deep into your current state also opens you up to hidden potentials that if you exploit you will build a diverse and inclusive practice.

To build a diverse and inclusive consulting practice, focus on diverse hiring, inclusive leadership, training, mentoring, inclusive client engagement, networking, diversity metrics, inclusive marketing, feedback mechanisms, and inclusive policies. These strategies will align your practice with global trends and foster a diverse and inclusive work environment.

Communication is key here, the stronger the communication skills between the team and the leadership , the more diverse and rich the business will become. communicating your goals and your plans with your team allow them to work clearly and be precise which will focus their efforts on the goal of interest.

Having an open mind is one of the cornerstone of fostering a diverse and inclusive culture in any workplace. When we approach situations, colleagues, and new ideas with an open mindset, we are essentially creating a space where differences are not just tolerated but celebrated. An open minded environment encourages team members to bring their authentic selves to work, leading to richer discussions, innovative solutions and a highly cohesive team. Do not only recognize differences, embrace differences.

Foster a diverse and inclusive consulting practice by actively promoting diversity in recruitment, ensuring a bias-free hiring process, and providing equal opportunities for prof. development. Establish mentorship programs and affinity groups to support underrepresented employees. Encourage open dialogue on diversity and inclusion, fostering a culture where diverse perspectives are valued. Regularly assess and address unconscious biases within the org. Prioritize inclusivity in client engagements, considering diverse perspectives in problem-solving. By embracing diversity at all levels and promoting an inclusive culture, a consulting practice can harness a wide range of talents, enhance creativity, and better serve a diverse clientele.

The more diverse your team is the more wealth of knowledge you will have at your disposal. more brain storming, more ideas and more effective decisions. diversity brings life to the business.

There are many advantages attained by leveraging the diversity of a team but, one of the lesser thought of advantages is risk mitigation. When you have a truly diverse team there are many points of view that can help find flaws or concerns in the planning and execution phases. Some of these areas could be cultural concerns, implementation issues, social optics, and the list goes on and on. Homogeny may be important in things like methodology but a diverse outlook could be the difference between a successfully received launch, and having to do a massive clean up effort right before the deadline.

Our world and our clients are more & more diverse. So lean into and showcase your diversity of ideas, backgrounds, perspectives and team to stand out. Not in an empty way, but by showcasing how your diverse perspectives and approaches translate into fresh perspectives and new solutions for clients. This should also come through consistently in your brand stories, case-studies and testimonials. Remember it also needs to show through in your real work and outcomes for clients to feel it and make it a sustainable differentiator.

Here's what I don't see in most conversations. The role and responsibility of those not from the global majority or other marginalized identities. I still also see white people acquiring more executive DEI positions. DEI committees are either group therapy for ethnic and other than mhsabsg cultures or a taskforce responsible for implementing all the things DEI. It should be lead by folx who have non white-eurocentric identities and those who are w-euro should be attending as learners, observers, and supporters. Who is facilitating these conversations? How are they going? What's the climate like?

Building a diverse and inclusive consulting practice means involving diverse stakeholders from the onset. Diverse also means with a different background, education, and interests. Ensure these stakeholders are not just present but also actively engaged in decision-making processes.