Imagine Belonging at Work

Today's episode features an encore presentation of a talk that originally aired in 2019 during the first Annual Belonging at Work Summit. This interview was recorded in a world that has long ago gone away; however, some of the challenges that existed then with regard to managing generational diversity, still remain stubbornly the same.

What you're about to hear, is a speaker who will underscore the importance of unlocking the power of working on multigenerational teams, and the challenges that every manager has with making this mix of employees work well together, and that speaker is Laurie Battaglia.

Laurie is the CEO and Workplace Strategist of Aligned at Work®, and she works with companies who understand that their leaders are the ones who create a healthy, human-centered environment where they and their teams thrive.

During our conversation, Laurie reminds us that there are five distinct generations in the workplace including Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Zoomers. She also recognizes the distinct challenges people managers endure when leading multigenerational teams.

She reminds us that when we fundamentally can't relate to someone because they are so much younger or older than ourselves, it's hard to see things from their perspective. As a result, we can resort to using harmful stereotypes and blame solvable problems on one another instead of working to understand the differences that distance us.

To unlock the powerful potential of multigenerational teams, Laurie offers 3 core strategies to manage generational diversity at work:

1. Openly Communicate. Encourage your teams to openly communicate and respect the reality that different generations may prefer one communication & working style over another, and that your team will need to find a middle ground.

2. Respect boundaries. A wider representation of age groups at work has introduced new generational beliefs and values at work. This reality underscores the importance of respecting the varied generational beliefs and values, while upholding your team's set of established boundaries and values.

3. Don't play favorites. During team meetings, build opportunities for ALL voices and perspectives to be considered, regardless of someone's age, title, or level of seniority. You can achieve this by creating an inclusive decision-making process that encourages open dialogue and psychological safety.

Savor this insightful talk, and if you like what Laurie has to share, consider joining the Belonging Membership Community, where you'll have a chance to learn more about generational diversity from speakers just like Laurie. You can also connect with other DEI professionals ready to support you as you advance your DEI goals: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com.

Visit www.imaginebelongingatwork.com for more details on how you can share your feedback!! If you have questions, show topics you'd like to explore, or if you have guest recommendations, you can share those on this same webpage under the "Ask Rhodes" tab.

Today's episode features an encore presentation of a talk that originally aired in 2019 during the first Annual Belonging at Work Summit. In many respects, 2019 represents another world, one that no longer reflects our reality. Yet, the concept of community care was alive before COVID-19, and in 2022 it is becoming more of a regular practice.

In my book, Imagine Belonging, I describe the concept of Community Care as a practice where each of us uses our relative power, privilege and resources to better the people who are both in and out of our scope of influence. When it comes to equitably including the diversity of our world into our workplaces, it is imperative that DEI practitioners embrace the compassion practice of community care, which asks us to give support where we can to our colleagues, and being vulnerable enough to ask for support when we need it.

Community care was a concept first introduced to me by Aida Mandulay. Aida is an award-winning Latinx activist, international presenter, and trauma-focused clinician known for big earrings and building bridges. Trained as a sexuality educator, social worker, and nonprofit management professional, they work to make the world a more equitable place through education, therapy, and community organizing.

What you're about to hear, is Aida's approach to community-care. When it comes to the workplace, one of the core tenants of community care is to cultivate a workplace culture that not only addresses harm, but also helps prevent harm, knowing that harm will undoubtedly happen. It's about mutuality, it's about interdependence. It's about all of us taking care of each other. Giving support when we can, asking for support when needed, and continuing to show up so that we can collectively maintain the stamina to advance our DEI goals…

During Aida's talk, they remind us:

· "Militant self-care is about compassion and context. Its' about not masking who we really are, or pretending that we have more bandwidth than we actually do. Rather, it's self-care that is rooted in the idea of community. It challenges the superficial notions of what self-care is and upends the very individualized idea of self-care which is dominant in most corporate environments."

· Aida also reminds us to "Use your organizational values as a guiding framework in your everyday. Rather than thinking about them just once a year, bringing them up at literally every staff meeting. How are we aligning with our vision? How are we aligning with our values today? If we have a workplace conflict, let's look at our values. How would our values dictate that we addressed this? Just by doing that, you're getting closer to being authentic and being the kind of organization you want to be."

· And lastly, Aida has this to say about relationships - "If you think that time is money, then I'm asking you to invest the time and the money to build human relationships that will actually sustain your work and make your workplace culture a healthy one. Transforming a toxic work culture does a lot for retention, especially retention of underrepresented employees."

There are so many other incredible takeaways from Aida's talk today. Savor them all, and if you like what Aida has to share, consider joining the Belonging Membership Community, where you'll have a chance to observe and embody community care compassion practices, as you connect with other DEI professionals ready to support you as you advance your DEI goals: www.belongingmembershipcommunity.com.

Visit www.imaginebelongingatwork.com for more details on how you can share your feedback!! If you have questions, show topics you'd like to explore, or if you have guest recommendations, you can share those on this same webpage under the "Ask Rhodes" tab.

Today's episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast is a very special encore presentation of a talk that originally aired during last week's 4th Annual Belonging at Work Summit.

The Belonging at Work Summit is an annual event designed for DEI professionals and other inclusive leaders to gather, learn from some of today's most celebrated DEI & social justice thought leaders, and build community over the course of 5 days so that we can maintain the stamina to keep going in our work.

It's truly an epic learning journey – and on its fifth and final day, we launched a special viewers' choice award. This award allows every single Summit participant to choose their top 3 most favorite speakers – as a special gift to participants, we offer an encore talk on Saturday featuring the most popular talk from the Summit.

What you're about to hear, is the speaker who won the viewers' choice award, bestselling author and founder of change coaches, LaTonya Wilkins. LaTonya partners with executives, professionals, and teams to build cultures of belonging through highly customized coaching and consulting services. Latonya is a sought-after keynoter and has inspired audiences all over the world. And today she's here to inspire us.

A few key highlights from LaTonya's talk include:

• Ways old models of leadership don't serve us anymore, including those with power and privilege.
• The key reason why most workplace culture transformation efforts fail.
• Everyday actions you can take to lead below the surface to cultivate real connections with your co-workers and team.
• Examining the "Terrible Three" biases and the nonsensical human instinct to exclude in order to belong.
• The importance of leaders being vulnerable and "sharing their slips" to model letting go of perfectionism, a harmful trait of white supremacy culture.
• Practical skills on how to listen better, how to build more empathy, and how to create psychologically safe relationships.

Savor this insightful talk, and please consider checking-out some of the other Summit speakers from last week by visiting: belongingatworksummit.com.

Then, be sure to visit the podcast's homepage where you can learn more about how to support the show and catch up on your favorite episodes here: www.imaginebelongingatwork.com.

Thanks for growing our #BelongingMovement!

As you give yourself permission to boldly imagine belonging at work on a global scale, how do you know if your organization is successfully moving in the direction to activate this vision? Have you all identified indicators that would suggest your organization is on track, and what do you all do if you find yourselves drifting far away from your bold vision? These are some of the questions many workplaces often ask before they even attempt to establish a bold vision that upends the status quo. Which leads to this big question: how do we measure what matters, if we haven't yet defined what success feels like on a full sensory level?

If you're interested in exploring these critical questions while receiving guidance on how to establish metrics to activate your belonging at work vision, then you'll want to listen to this episode featuring a panel discussion Rhodes Perry moderated on July 5, 2022 all about Measuring What Matters. After listening to this episode, you will gain powerful insights from a panel of DEI thought leaders, including Malissa Adams and Cecilia Stanton Adams for the Diversity Institute, and Jamie Strong, Senior Consultant from Inturvey.

After listening to these panelists, you will gain essential knowledge, skills, and confidence to begin measuring what matters to benchmark success. Specifically, you will:

• Learn why establishing a bold vision for transforming your workplace culture is the first essential action to take prior to benchmarking your successes.

• Recognize why clarifying what you want in your workplace culture, what's worked well in the past, and naming how you will get there will help clarify the path forward.

• Gain awareness of available diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics beyond employee demographics that will help you build a culture of belonging.

• Feel empowered with new knowledge, skills and confidence about how you can begin benchmarking your successes as you activate your belonging vision.

After listening to this episode, be sure to subscribe to the show and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. When you do, you'll be entered into an exclusive drawing where you will have the chance to travel to Portland Oregon for a one-day inclusive leadership strategic planning session with me and my team!

We'll be selecting this winner during our 4th Annual Belonging at Work Summit running July 11 – 15. You can register for the 100% free and virtual Summit here: www.belongingatworksummit.com

Thanks for growing the #BelongingMovement

P.S. Have guest recommendations? Let Rhodes know by leaving a comment on his website: www.imaginebelongingatwork.com under the "Ask Rhodes" tab.

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting.

In today's episode, I honor Pride Month. And I get intensely personal.

Many of you know the origins of my DEI story. I began my social transition in college. This journey led me to become who I am today.

I noticed that as a young professional and transgender man, most workplaces weren't designed with me in mind. But fortunately, I had many employers who were open to upending some of the barriers I encountered.

These are barriers that most non-transgender people never notice. But they exist. And they are pervasive.

In today's episode of the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast, I talk about these barriers. I also share with you an article I penned for the Portland Journal. Its title? Why Pride Matters More Than Ever Before In 2022.

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting.

Once again, I'm honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano.

Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP, an organization she started after noticing the needs of many communities doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and development.

Today, we conclude our special 3-part learning series on the critical topic of intersectionality. We'll discuss the concrete, specific actions we can take to begin dismantling systems of dominance. These systems include white supremacy culture, patriarchy, ableism and nativism.

We also talk about resources available for inclusive leader who want to discover how to take an intersectional approach while creating a culture of belonging.

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting.

Once again, I'm honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano.

Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP, an organization she started after noticing the needs of many communities that were doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and development.

Today, we continue our special 3-part learning series on the critical topic of intersectionality.

During this episode, part II of our series, we'll learn about the origins of intersectionality as a Critical Race Theory that impacts all of us.

We'll discuss why it's critical that our DEI work embrace an intersectional framework and how DEI leaders can begin taking this approach.

We'll also consider why our work will remain incomplete if we fail to establish a long-term DEI vision that incorporates intersectionality.

Welcome to The Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting.

Today, as we begin a special 3-part learning series on the critical topic of intersectionality, I'm honored to introduce you to the incredible thought leadership of Dr. Bianca Laureano.

Dr. Laureano is the Foundress of ANTE UP. She started this organization after noticing the needs of many communities that were doing justice work but finding limited support in their own growth and development.

She imagined, and then created a virtual space for collective un/learning and accountability that honors shifts and the ebb and flow of collective webs of knowledge.

ANTE UP offers professional development and training for the world we have inherited.

During this special learning series, I'll be asking Dr. Laureano to share her thoughts about intersectionality.

In this episode, we'll first take a deep dive into what intersectionality truly means, and how it impacts all of us. We'll discuss how to resist building silos and instead build coalition & connections across different culture within our organizations.

Welcome to the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting.

Today, we conclude our special 3-part learning series featuring renowned DEI thought leader, Mary-Frances Winters, founder and CEO of the Winters Group, a 40-year-old global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm.

Please be sure to listen to parts 1 & 2 of this series (show episodes 12 & 13), before you dive into this concluding episode.

In today's episode, Mary-Frances and I discuss the topic of supporting systemic change. Where does this change begin? It begins with each of us on an individual level.

To reach the DEI goals we've set for our organizations, we must focus on transformation in ourselves, while we invite others to join us on our journey.

In this episode, Mary-Frances emphasizes a critical point: leaders must understand that organizations are made up of individuals. If our group culture is going to change, we as individuals must change.

Welcome back to the Imagine Belonging at Work Podcast brought to you by Rhodes Perry Consulting. Today you have the opportunity to dive back into part 2 of our 3 part learning series with award winning business owner, bestselling author, and renowned DEI thought leader, Mary-Frances Winters.

In part I we explored what the world of work was like over 40 years ago, when most workplaces were focused on complying with EEO policies and staying out of legal trouble. Mary-Frances also offered her perspective on how workplace DEI goals have and haven't evolved over the past 4 decades, and what DEI professionals of today can learn from our predecessors.

During this episode, we'll take a peek into what the future of work could be as we give ourselves permission to establish a bold vision for what's to come. We will also explore how to identify and work around some of the biggest obstacles that stymie this vision. Then we'll identify several proven strategies to begin upending these obstacles…Today!

After the conversation, please be sure that you're subscribed to the podcast. Once you're subscribed, you will be the first to hear part 3 of this interview. And you listen, I'd love for you to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Your perspective will help more people find this show and benefit from the content.

As reward, you'll be entered into a VIP drawing where you will have the chance to travel to Portland Oregon later this fall for a one-day inclusive leadership planning session with me and my team!

For now, let's gain a new perspective and powerful insights from Mary-Frances Winters.