Inclusion Lessons for Leaders: February Debrief

You’re busy. That’s why I’m making this easy for you.

Every week, I break down key insights in this newsletter.

If you missed anything, this is your quick debrief.

Here’s what stood out this month and how you can apply it.

Popular Posts

Before we dive into this month’s key lessons, here are three popular posts worth revisiting.

1) My 2nd favourite DEI platitude: “Diversity is the right thing to do”.

Exhibit A: Accenture

Here I discuss 埃森哲 's public example of what many are doing in secret.

Read it here.?

2) 7 DEI tactics guaranteed to make you look ridiculous.

Number 4 is my favourite.

Here I discuss common mainstream practices that devastate your credibility.

Read it here.

3) If your colleagues hate DEI, maybe you should take MEI more seriously.

Here I discuss the need to explore the concept of Merit, Excellence and Intelligence.

Read it here.

Share this with a colleague who needs to understand this.

PS.

I write here every single day.

Make sure you follow Dr Jonathan for daily insights and inspiration.

4 Key Insights from the Month

1) The Must Have DEI Metric To Track For An Inclusive Workplace

In a previous life I was an accountant. Then I was an auditor.

It wasn’t as boring as you might think.

At the heart of the job was reporting:

- Management reports

- Financial reports

- Dashboards

- Decks

People think we only report money but it’s more than that.

A few things I’ve learned are crucial for those building an inclusive workplace.

3 criteria I’ve found for leaders who are taken seriously.

Not everyone who talks about inclusion is taken seriously.

People who are taken seriously used reports to signal 3 things we always looked for.

Control:

Reporting is a way to control how leaders managed their resources.

Communication:

Reporting is a way to communicate how resources are managed to stakeholders.

Challenge:

Reporting is a way to identify gaps between expectations and performance.

It gets better.

If you are visible and taken seriously in an organisation.

You can tie what you do to a report that leaders care about.

The flip side of this.

If you cannot tie what you do to a report that leaders care about. You are invisible and NOT taken seriously in the organisation.

This is important if you are responsible for creating inclusion where you work.

(What are you reporting on?)

Don't ignore the one DEI metric you must track for an Inclusive workplace

[Read the full newsletter to learn more]

2) Why You Should Avoid Saying Diversity Is The Right Thing To Do

Saying “diversity is the right thing to do” is a platitude.

Think of a platitude as a moral statement that’s become meaningless due to excessive use.

- “people can be funny sometimes”

- "just be a good person"

- “that’s life”

These are platitudes.

They hold no weight. They have no meaning.

I encourage you not to rely on them.

?? Platitudes are a red flag for me. ??

You’ve heard me say that one of the 3 Biggest Problems organisations experience on their inclusion journey is Performance.

Organisations struggle to articulate a business for diversity for THEIR specific organisation.

Accenture’s attempt involved a social justice argument.

Evidently, this was a poor decision.

It’s worse here because it was inaccurate.

This platitude is built on a social justice argument.

And that’s not what this business is about.

Don't make the same mistake as Accenture.

[Read the full newsletter to learn more]

3) Who Controls Your DEI Story? Lessons From McKinsey & Co-Op

When you own your DEI narrative. People will insult you online.

- They will shame you for not adopting their ideas.

- They will attack you for not doing what they want.

- They will misrepresent your words to score points.

But here’s what matters:

That criticism is about them, not you.

Here's 2 examples worth discussing:

In a recent Bloomberg article called “McKinsey Champions Diversity While Rivals Abandon Targets”

Global Managing Partner?told staff that they pledged to prioritise diversity across its workforce.

This is important because the article says:

- Booz Allen Hamilton

- Goldman Sachs

- Accenture

Are doing the opposite.

Don’t be fooled by the headline. This isn’t the real story.

In a recent Guardian article, the CEO of Co-op said: “We will continue to champion fairness having seen the benefits.”

That’s the good news.

The bad news? She didn’t say what those benefits were.

At least, not in the article.

That would have been SUPER helpful.

It’s literally in the subtitle but goes unmentioned.

It’s not enough to say what you did. (They didn’t.)

It’s important to say why. (They tried.)

Here I explore these 2 useful case studies about DEI narratives

[Read the full newsletter to learn more]

4) Why “Evidence-Based” DEI Is Empty Talk

“DEI Experts” are saying you NOW need to be evidence based.

Without explaining what it means.

Let's discuss what we mean by Evidence Based Inclusion.

Let’s start with Inclusion.

We think of inclusion as a systematic business strategy to ensure everyone shares the same advantages and benefits.

This means:

- Everyone can perform.

- Everyone can belong.

- Everyone can reach their potential.

This is a useful starting point.

Let’s talk about Evidence.

It’s useful to think of this as information that is going to help us support or contradict a claim, assumption or hypothesis.

I talk about this more here.

So what’s a claim?

A claim is a statement presented as fact, often without sufficient evidence to support it.

Example: “Black candidates don’t apply for leadership roles."

We would seek evidence to support or contradict the claim.

So what’s an assumption?

An assumption is a belief or idea that is taken for granted.

Often without evidence, it’s often implied rather than explicitly stated.

Example: “Black candidates don’t have the experience for leadership roles."

We would seek evidence to support or contradict the assumption.

So what’s a hypothesis?

A hypothesis is a testable statement that explains a phenomenon and it can be investigated through evidence.

(We like the investigated part).

Example: “If we increase the talent pipeline we’ll have more Black candidates applying for leadership roles."

We would seek evidence to support or contradict the hypothesis.

Did you notice that the hypothesis didn’t necessarily make sense?

That’s ok as long as you don’t throw resources at it.

The act of formulating a hypothesis is what’s going to help you to solve important problems in your business.

Initially this won’t cost you money either.

Make your mistakes on paper.

You get to do this before asking for support.

It also means you don’t have to waste lots of time on random bits of data that sound cool but don’t help.

The key question to ask before collecting any new data.

How does this help me to support or contradict a claim, assumption or hypothesis?

But where do you get this evidence from?

[Read the full newsletter to learn more]

Prefer to Listen?

The insights above are covered in greater detail on our podcast, The Element of Inclusion.

It's the longest-running inclusion podcast in the world, trusted by leaders in 163 countries.

Here’s what you get:

• Research Breakdowns – Translating academic findings into actionable insights.
• Jargon Explainers – Making sense of buzzwords and jargon.
• Expert Interviews – Conversations with authors and experts.
• Critical Insights – Lessons from my client work and experiences.
• Book Reviews – Analyses from 75+ books.

Start here:

Why You Need to Focus on High-Impact Inclusion Work

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??? Check it out here.

Want Actionable Inclusion Insights Every Week?

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It’s a short, strategic email for People Leaders who want to build inclusive workplaces without needing to be a DEI specialist.

It’s designed to help you:

• Earn the trust of your colleagues
• Optimise for measurable results
• Implement a systematic process

Join 1300+ leaders who get it every week.

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Final Thought

This newsletter has been running for over 3 years, with 180+ editions and 9,600+ leaders reading weekly.

If you found this useful, share it with a colleague who need this.

As always,

I’m cheering you on.

Dr. Jonathan

PS.

What do you think is the best part of this debrief?