Busting Systemic Exclusion Takes Humility, Curiosity and Courage!

In my previous article "Let's Name It: Systemic Exclusion" , I discussed listening sessions as a means to open communication, and how if they were not structured and led properly, they could be seen as a check-the-box activity. Indeed, ensuring that they are led by executive and senior leaders is only a start. They need to be run as studio sessions, which implies a follow-up process, and include front line leaders and employees with a passion for inclusion. These passionate employees need to be charged with making recommendations to the C-Suite, and given the authority, skills, and resources to make systemic change. Leaders (with a small "l") rise in companies during periods of challenge and disruption, and executives should take advantage of this time to identify and empower these leaders who may not already have positional power or may not arise in formal talent discussions.

Many executives are scrambling to structure training strategies to bolster inclusion and belonging in their workplace. I keep seeing requests for training on Diversity and Inclusion Awareness, Unconscious Bias and other self-reflective topics that should be the basis of any good education strategy.

I think of these types of sessions as: "Don't Be a Jerk!" learning. While these are important and helpful, they are not going to help us shift culture. "Don't Be a Jerk" should be a baseline competency and baked into the hiring process, onboarding, and managed in the performance process. What we need now more than ever is for leaders and employees to show up with fierce humility, radical curiosity, and compassionate courage. This is where HR and the learning and development department can help most effectively.

Our HR business partners should be engaged by the business in helping to identify those people who are steeped in, and passionate about diversity and inclusion in our workplace. These interests might arise in performance or talent discussions, and the information may be housed in the performance systems and talent profiles. In companies where HR is engaged as a strategic partner they may be aware of employees that have come to them about diversity/inclusion issues in their departments. These sources of data can present a gold mine of information about who can help us, as leaders, shift our culture meaningfully. Another place to look are the department or function-based diversity or inclusion councils, or employee resource groups (ERGs). The members of those groups have already raised their hands, and might have understanding of the issues, the relationships, influence and passion to make a difference.

Once passionate people are engaged in the strategy, they will need the skills to be present for and manage uncomfortable conversations with humility and curiosity and courage. This is where the Learning and Development team can really make a difference. Your best learning experts should be engaged in partnering with various stakeholders to understand your company's specific issues and craft targeted learning that can help bust your version of Systemic Exclusion. The most effective learning will include self awareness, curiosity and the ability to navigate uncomfortable conversations. Off-the-shelf diversity and inclusion curricula are not going to help here. Neither are online modules, unless they are paired with the ability to practice skills safely and debrief discussions with a live instructor (in person or virtually).

Learning consultants should partner with HR, with the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging teams, and with senior leaders to understand the specific issues that you are trying to solve. Information from the listening sessions is crucial, as are additional conversations with council members, ERG's, and employees willing to talk about their individual experiences. Exit surveys are another place with a rich source of feedback on company policies and culture.

Fierce Humility

We are experiencing a time when our previous thoughts and mental models may no longer be effective. Tensions are high and all of us want to be present without offending anyone. We all need to know that we are being authentic and helpful while at the same time demonstrating a learning mindset. This takes humility--fierce humility. To help people access this mental space, employees need to understand fully their own background, reactions and biases, and be able to make mental space when reactions arise. Parts of the the "Don't Be a Jerk" curriculum can be helpful to support understanding of their personal dimensions of diversity and inherent biases. This will help them navigate their own reactions and frames of reference. But that is only a start. Once we understand ourselves better how can we then show up in a different way?

Radical Curiosity

Most of us were hired because we know how to drive solutions and fix problems. When issues arise we naturally jump in to help fix them. This time of change and uncertainty, though, needs a different skillset for us to be successful. The national issues of racial inequality that are arising, and the subsequent interactions in our personal and work lives demand curiosity. These issues are too complex to fix by ourselves, and the solutions will take time, ingenuity and collaboration to be revealed. The truth is, we don't know how to fix this, and we don't really understand the issues that others face, To do this, our passionate advocates will need to understand how to maintain presence and listen meaningfully, with curiosity. How do we teach this? Perhaps you have a "leader as coach" or "coaching mindset" course that has these competencies included. There are different levels of listening that accomplish different outcomes, and what is needed here is meaningful or generative listening. For more information about listening, you can view this video by guru Otto Scharmer about the Four Levels of Listening. We want listening that helps the listener and the person talking to feel connection and authenticity. This in turn creates psychological safety so that we can hear and understand each other, and can move forward together.

Compassionate Courage--Navigating Uncomfortable Conversations

Our interactions, listening sessions, studio sessions and personal conversations are going to raise tensions between and among people. This is normal in life generally, but in these times of heightened uncertainty and change, there is a greater need to navigate conversations with compassion and skill. No matter how good your training curriculum is, there really are not very many companies that help leaders and employees do this well. You may already have a model for conversations in your company that is used in training. There are many of them, with the most recognizable being: Difficult Conversations, Crucial Conversations, Fierce Conversations. How can you and your team take the best of your accepted conversation model and then infuse it with compassion and respect? Someone once shared a quote with me that I remember always. I am not sure who said it or if I have it right. "Everyone has a story that would change the way we interact with them." How do we help to bring out people's stories and allow them to change us?

The journey we are on will take time and courage: courage to look within ourselves; courage to stay open and curious; courage to challenge the status quo; courage to have uncomfortable conversations. Now is the time for us to be courageous in action, and to challenge our people to be better, with humility, with curiosity and with respect.

How will you help?