Diversity and Inclusion ~ Transformative Learnings

I believe some of the best learnings come from stories, so I am going to tell you one now.

In early 1998, I was a CFO for Sedgwick in New York City and my best friend from childhood was running a program at the Partnership for the Homeless. She asked if I would consider hiring an individual who recently graduated their return to work program. My first reaction was “you want me to hire someone who was recently homeless???” with the subtext of “don’t you know how that could affect my job”??? 

Then I realized that my best friend would likely give me one of her top graduates with great potential, so I thought “I do need a receptionist” and “I can hire this person as a temp.” I told my best friend I would give it a shot.

Don’t you know that this woman was amazing and the best Director of First Impressions I had ever worked with! This was the 90s and calls still came in through the front desk. I actually had clients and markets asking to be transferred to me to ask where I found her, which I proudly shared.

Later that year, MMC acquired Sedgwick and I transitioned all of my direct reports and went off on my new assignment.

Maybe 6 months later, my best friend called me to tell me that Susan (name changed to protect the individual) had breast cancer and was not going to get treatment. I asked why not. The answer shocked me. She was still a temp and did not have medical coverage and she could not afford it.

I walked next door to speak with my colleague that I had transitioned my team to. I let him know that she was still a temp, and asked that he complete whatever diligence necessary relating to her skills and impact and to please hire her.

I once again went on my merry way, moving to a new assignment in Los Angeles.

In 2009 – this was 11 years later – I was back at MMC headquarters and heading to a meeting. A silhouetted figure got up from the reception desk and was coming toward me with intent. I wracked my brain to think who this person might be and just before Susan gave me a bear hug I realized she had beat the breast cancer and was thriving as the Director of First Impressions!!!! I had completely forgotten about her, but she would never forget me.

The lessons I learned from this experience were transformational:

• Think beyond your first reaction - be aware of unconscious bias and re-think how you respond - sometimes having just one more data point will change the way you approach the situation
• Give everyone a chance to show you what they can do – they will likely surprise you
• Do the right thing, and don’t ever expect to know how it turns out, trust that it is good
• We are all presented with hundreds if not thousands of choices every day. Make choices to meet people where they are and create experiences for them.

Building on that, let me ask, has anyone reading this ever felt like an outsider? I will ask you to do one thing as a result of reading this post. Think about who in the room might be feeling like an outsider and do or say something to bring them in to the discussion. 

Diversity is about counting heads and inclusion is about making heads count. Said another way, diversity is fact based and Inclusion is a choice, make it an impactful one!

#Inclusion, #WTWLife, #I&DMatters, #BeYouatWTW, #MakeaDifference