Intentional Conversations

We were honored to welcome Lillian Forsyth to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are so excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

The foundation of equity for all humans is that we are all inherently valuable.

Equity is taking a look at the outcomes we want from an organization… who’s voices get heard? Who influences decisions?

Wherever there is inequity - you will not get the most out of your systems. Equity is the end goal and the other areas are steps along the way to equity.

In all that you’re doing, how do you think forward, are my actions increasing equity or decreasing equity?

Always be thoughtful in how you show up and how we fit into the puzzle.

We cannot ask clients to do something that we are not working on.

Always be centering the voices of a diverse team, but in particular the people most impacted by the work you are doing.

Your work is not just about the results you’re getting, it is about how you are doing the work.

When communication is the presenting issue, the underlying issue is trust.

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We were honored to welcome Aaisha Joseph to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are so excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM AAISHA:

No need for surface level DEI. We need faster substantial impact and change. 

Empathy and curiosity encourage civil discourse by trying to understand why people think the way they do. 

Center humanity... acceptance doesn’t mean agreement. 

Some POC are so steeped in White supremacy and centering Whiteness that some may shame you because they believe you must conform to Whiteness, or I look bad. 

DEI skills are leadership skills! 

The system wasn’t set up to encourage the success and liberation of Black people. 

To decolonialize yourself, look at your behavior when you’re in predominately White spaces. Take note of what changes and why.

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We were honored to welcome Jessica Pharm to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are so excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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JESSICA'S KEY TAKEAWAYS:

To be a free-thinking HR professional, you need to think about DEI realistically and holistically.

Having a problem with DEI content signifies a problem with you, not me.

Talk to managers about what you want, goals, and expectations... don’t ask for permission!

Manager red flag: when they are intimidated by you asking for what you want to help you thrive. Good managers want to help you excel.

Own your career, don’t put it in the hands of your manager.

Black people aren’t given grace when a mistake is made, like their white colleagues, so you fear asking for challenging work.

White mediocrity is rampant in the workplace. Black people are usually overqualified for positions because they aren’t given breaks.

Black people are hired based on experience and White people are hired based on potential.

Companies shouldn’t ask employees to bring their full self to work if they haven’t created a safe environment for that.

DEI should not report to HR. HR is there to protect the company which does not align with DEI, it's parallel.

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We were honored to welcome Dr. Shaunna Payne Gold to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are so excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM DR. SHAUNNA:

Students need to be able to navigate the workplace, not just understand the work of DEI.

Generation Z'ers are making a conscious decision on how to work based on how they were raised and educated. 

We forget that for many of us, our hair tells a history of a people!

How ridiculous is it to connect hair style to talents, skills and abilities! 

We typically do DEI work within the confines of white comfort and once you start pushing outside of that box, it becomes problematic. 

We need to move people from DEI programmers to DEI strategists.

One big thing that is needed is connecting systems and innovation, having strong dialogue facilitators, and training in change management that involves people in the process along the way. 

What is important about the acceptance of change, even when people disagree, they feel committed to it, if they were apart of producing the outcome.

DEI should not be situated in HR spaces, but you need to play nicely. We don’t know each others history until we study it. 

DEI is a profession. It is not an appendage, or an add-on. 

The acronym ADKAR means: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge (do you know what you need to know to change), Ability (too many roadblocks in the way), Reinforcement (to be sure we don’t go back to what we used to be) 

If you’re going to work in the DEI space, assume resistors and then figure out how to contain them - how can you make sure they don’t effect what you’re trying to change or effect it less. This could be through confronting them, in a good way, typically this means from a dialogue perspective. Some folks need to be removed - maybe not from the organization, but to a different space.

Be ready with your action plan before these resistors pop up.

Hang in there and take care of yourself!

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We were honored to welcome Netta Jenkins to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are so excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM NETTA:

DEI is much more expansive than race and gender.

True transformation happens when we can transfer the work to all.

An Actionist is someone who is working to advocate, they want to see an impact, a clear result at the end of the day. An activist not only advocates for an individual, but takes action to redirect opportunities for others to advance.

We need to move to conscious bias. People will continue having the same behavior or pattern, even when they are told how bad it is. Behavior that happens over and over and you continue to do, even after you’ve been told it is bad, is now conscious.

Before you start consulting or join an organization, you must ensure the organization answers these questions:

Do you have a DEI budget?

What are some results you would like to see?

Who am I reporting to?

What is the policy for me to take a break when I need it?

Do I have a team?

When we believe something will come to pass, we must prepare.

Boards need to do a better job making it known how to get on a board.

DEI is simply removing barriers and is simply a lense people apply to their work.

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We were honored to welcome Dana Brownlee to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are so excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM DANA:

1. We continue to exist in the “animal farm” equality. We’re all equal, but some are just more equal than others. We see this in broader society and our workplaces.

2. How can we begin to create real equity? You have to have 3 critical components: Racial literacy (we need to know what we’re talking about), Racial humility (you can know a lot, but need to remain teachable), Racial stamina (needed to lean into the work).

3. If you don’t have the racial literacy, you cannot have a conversation about real equity.

4. The education and the study is ground zero. You cannot be competent in this space without the education.

5. What can you commit to daily in increasing your knowledge and education particularly in the DEI space?

6. Have you ever seen a complex problem solved by not discussing it?

7. To be better sometimes requires discomfort… this isn’t bad.

8. Individual guilt and shame is different from collective guilt and shame. Everything is not about you, depersonalize it, don’t look at everything through the lens of yourself or how it makes you feel personally.

9. We usually start by 'calling in’, which generally doesn’t work… what do we do when calling in is not effective? Typically people do nothing… this is not acceptable.

10. Part of the reason we’ve made little progress is using the meek approach, focused on comfort, not taking risks, so when nothing happens, get ignored, gaslighted, the conversation ceases. Focus more on the progress, than on the level of comfort.

11. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world, in fact, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Meade

12. We can’t wait for people to save us, we have to take that power each and every day by speaking up, speaking out and living our values.

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We were honored to welcome Future Cain to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are so excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. People forget to breathe.. use it when you need to get back to calm, lower stress! Just breathe…

2. Life isn’t either / or, it is filled with many both / and.

3. We can’t create social awareness if we aren’t even aware of how we show up.

4. Self awareness is a coin, one side is about you knowing you and the other side of the coin is how people are receiving you.

5. We are Houdinis of sitting with our own emotions, we will do anything to escape them.  

6. Our self awareness is important because if I can’t see me, I can’t see you.

7. Failing is our first attempt at learning! 

8. We don’t put enough emphasis into getting to know another human being.

9. Your body will manifest what you are holding onto and not talking about.

10. The weight of inclusivity is typically on one persons shoulder and equity is the work of all.

11. You can’t change a system, unless you listen to the people in the system who are being oppressed.

12. We have to remember to fill our buckets up with joy. What am I waking up to? Protect your mind because that protects your body and your spirit. Pour into yourself, not just water, but good stuff for your mind, body and spirit.

13. Celebrate the people who are joining the marathon of DEI, but also let those know if they aren’t ready yet for the journey, they can join when they’re ready!

14. How is your heart? Ask yourself daily, how is my heart? If you’re feeling a way you don’t want to feel, what actionable steps can you take that will help you to experience joy? Your wellness will be top and center!

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We were honored to welcome Dr. Venessa Marie Perry to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

We are now starting to see a slowing down of people talking about DEI and racial equity. Things are changing.

The evolution of the nomenclature of DEI has become somewhat of a contentious point, people can get so tied up in what they call it that it keeps us from doing the work. Let’s just do the work!

DEI or DEIB - it all means the same thing. What matters most is the impact and the outcomes.

DEI is organizational development and change management and if you don’t understand that, you will have a difficult time with this work. It is about increasing the capacity of individual’s in organizations to be sure they are individualistically and holistically performing.

DEI is relational work.

People don’t understand that well being is actually several pieces, it’s not just physical or emotional. We are talking about education, socioeconomic status, where you live, your transportation, childcare issues, even your diet.

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We were honored to welcome Dr. Katrina Hutchins, affectionately called Dr. K, to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Grief is something we don’t talk about enough.

Ask the question, “Where can my voice be the most powerful?”

Collectively we must start thinking about how to amplify our voices together. The days of a lone voice are long gone, we need to be looking for ways to collaborate.

People are consumed by the power of “they” and must move beyond the fear of what will “they” say? What will “they” think?

Think of sharing your voice as an opportunity, not an obligation.

Ask yourself, “What if I don’t do it?”

When you consider cause and effect, move beyond your head into your heart. Heart gives us the ability to be sensitive to people, places and circumstances. Ask do I have the heart to act? Do I have the heart to use my power for good? Do I have the heart to step into and create brave spaces?

Only 7% of our voice shows up in words, the other 93% is our presence, our attitude, and our disposition.

Voice positioning requires critical thought, mindfulness, strategies and self reflection and introspection about the condition of our voices.

You can exist in silence for so long you become desensitized to the weight of being in that state.

Sometimes we expect people to change things for us in not being heard or seen, but it’s our own voice that will bring the change.

If we have seats at tables and we’re unaware of our voice’s power, we can become the meal.

Obligation is I have to… understanding if something is an obligation is being able to step back and ask, “Can I find the honor in this?” If there is nothing that can connect to it and find the honor in it, it is probably not for me. Our yes should always be connected to “I GET TO!”

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We were honored to welcome Tara Robertson to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and are excited to share this encore presentation with you!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Leaders need to take a stand and be clear on their values. When meeting resistance, knowing your core values will help your response. Do you have the backs of your employees and clients? 

When making decisions around DEIB, determine who caused the harm and who’s being centered? Do those answers align? 

Develop regular mental health practices. How are you continuously filling your cup, not just during Mental Health Month? 

When coaching WOC, nothing is broken so there’s nothing to fix. Just shine a light on them, be with and walk with them. 

Who you’re being influences what you’re doing. I can show up for WOC differently when coaching. 

When we make decisions on brand for our values, it makes us feel happy and fulfilled and determines what we should do during our work and our personal lives. 

We must interrogate the avoidance of discomfort during DEI conversations. 

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