Intentional Conversations

Yalonda Brown, DEI leader and activator and President of Diversity Initiatives for Engage Mentoring, joined the Intentional Conversations vodcast. We are excited to share the key takeaways from this rich conversation below.

Key Takeaways From Yalonda:

1. Mentoring is a way to recruit and retain employees. 94% of people would have stayed at an organization if they felt like they could grow and make meaningful connections.

2. Mentoring creates a more well-rounded work force.

3. Great mentees have the ability to not just show up, but a desire for others to meet their greatest potential.

4. Mentors need to be what they want to see in others.

5. Speaking life into youth matters. This makes them have more confidence and builds self-love.

6. The business case for mentoring: mentoring improves culture. Regardless of level everyone has the capacity to lead.    

7. Mentors need mentors too.    

8. The Great Resignation is now the Great Reassessment.

9. Mentors and mentees are match based on topic, not industry or level. This creates more meaningful connections.

10. It's critical for organizations to ensure leaders are mentoring individuals out of their circle who don't look like them.

11. Authentic friendships are very important.

12. If we don’t ask girls their interest, how will we know what to nurture?

13. Entrepreneurship is a great way to have a presence and influence in the world.

14. How do you find a mentor?

• Make a list of individuals you admire, respect and have influence.
• Find professional networking events- being in rooms that can enrich your life are important
• Join groups/organizations aligned with your passions/purpose to build community and networks with others
• You probably have people in your life that are pouring into you and don’t call mentors… lean into them.

15. We have to be open to receiving from others.

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We were honored to welcome Anu Mandapati to Intentional Conversations. Listen now to the full episode and check out her key takeaways below.

1. Learned / Amplified / Sustained Model: Any type of learning experience

typically means it is one and done. So how do we ingrain what we've

learned into our everyday practices? We need to amplify it and practice

it to sustain it.

2. The most impact comes from the day-to-day practices because it fosters great feedback and sustained learning.

3. Cultural change happens at the individual level, the interpersonal level and the team level.

4  Application and interactions with other people are what makes learning as an adult stick.

5. As a team establish team commitments which speaks to how everyone

will show up and what feedback will look like with one another.

6. Culture carriers vs. culture co-creators: We need to be culture

co-creators because it says my actions will matter, and that makes me

want to do something different.

7. DEI is not just a DEI officer’s responsibility, it is everyone’s.

8. Space and Grace X 3 - this is all practice, not perfection.

Space and Grace for me: I will fumble and make mistakes and it is okay, this is a learning journey for all, not a destination

Space and Grace for someone else: When you are in an interaction

Space and Grace when receiving feedback: How do you receive feedback so

it doesn’t create aggression with you? Remember, feedback is about

taking IN and not taking ON!

9. DEI leadership is a calling, it is a very personal position.

10. How do you sustain longevity in the work of DEI?

(1) The most important part of ensuring longevity in DEI leadership is self-care

(2) Community

(3) Knowing who is advocating for you within your organization / company

11. Organizations need to really look at their commitment to DEI, what

they want the role to look like and how are they going to support the

individual. If there is not a buy-in from the organization, it will be

very tough to move the organization forward.

CLOSING REMARKS:

Always be kind to yourself, this is a journey.

Practice. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about practicing. Practice creates progress.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go, they merely determine where you can start.”

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Leah Smiley joined the Intentional Conversations vodcast in the month of June and we wanted to share her episode here. It is full of practical, applicable DEI tips.

Listen now and be sure to check out her key takeaways below:

1. When the pandemic began 60% of DEI roles were downsized.  But now, there is an increase in DEI positions roles because of many factors where organizations realize that DEI is infused in every aspect of the business

2. LinkedIn and Indeed report the DEI role has grown significantly over the last 3 years, and that growth will continue

3. Have a BEANS approach to how you develop and implement your DEI strategy.

BEANS = Behaviors, Expectations, Attitudes, Needs (that are changing)

4. Diverse organizations managed well will perform better over time

5. Best place for the DEI role is an independent office reporting directly to the CEO

6. The earliest indicator of where change will occur is the household. If you do not have kids in the house, go to the schools

7. Toxic places within an organization will affect everyone  

How do practitioners remain up to date? Things are moving so quickly, what was advanced 2 years ago, is now old news.

9. Be connected to people in the industry and not just the veterans, but the new individuals coming in.

10. Read - not just the stuff you’re comfortable with, but also the differing opinions. (Fox News, CNN etc) You need to know what they are saying, so you are in a position to know how to respond.

11. As a DEI practioner, we need to have executives prepared for all scenarios so they are ready with talking point.

12. How do you stay cool and calm?

• Take time to center yourself before starting your day. Prayer, meditation…
• Find the thing outside of work that gives your life and do it!

13. We can’t be people who save the world if we are not saving ourselves. Don’t become what you say you don’t want to be. * Other people's baggage can hurt you if you aren’t taking the time to refresh yourself.

14. YOU are the most important factor in the equation.

CLOSING THOUGHTS - the field is changing, stay on top of what’s changing:  be intentional and strategic, and proactive about the changes going on, take the time to ask the right questions, and get the right people on the team so as not to be disconnected from the future of the field and what the work will require.

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We were thrilled to welcome Sacha Thompson to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and the encore presentation of our conversation is ready to share. We hope you enjoy it!

Be sure to join us every Friday at 11am (EST) for the LIVE vodcast.

Register by clicking this link to join the LIVE vodcast every Friday: https://bit.ly/3zLzfYQ

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM SACHA:

We must go beyond just checking the box and truly impact those communities. You may be causing more harm to your brand and to those impacted by simply checking boxes.

We must create opportunities for those we claim to stand by. It is necessary to go beyond tokenizing diversity to truly sharing a platform to provide support for the cause.

When we focus on inclusion and identify what that looks like for everyone, we can only then discuss the road to equity.

Passion is wonderful, but you need both will and skill to do the work of DEI effectively.

DEI needs to be in an organization’s DNA. This is done by having that lens in all departments of the business.

DEI efforts often fail if they just sit with human resources. It needs to be in partnership with all aspects of the business.

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We were honored to have Catarina Rivera as a guest on Intentional Conversations and wanted to share this important episode with you here.

Be sure to join us every Friday at 11am (EST) for the LIVE vodcast.

You can register here: https://bit.ly/3zLzfYQ

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM CATARINA:

1. Disability is not always visible; we often assume someone is not disabled if we don’t see identifying traits.
2. 79% of disabled employees do not disclose their disabilities.
3. The largest minority group in the workforce belongs to the people with disabilities.
4. Disabled individuals are often over working because they’re expending energy to adapt to an environment that was not built for them.
5. When we discuss equity, we need to ensure we look through it with an intersectional lens.
6. ADA does not enforce inclusive workplace but standardizes the bare minimum. Just because an employee’s particular need is accommodated does not mean the work environment is automatically inclusive for the person with the disability.
7. Organizations benefit to lean into cultivating a culture that supports disability conversations as the norm.
8. Be conscious of the ableism around you and how it impacts those in the disabled community.

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Nika White Consulting welcomed Aiko Bethea, equity consultant, speaker, author, executive leadership coach and NYT best seller to the Intentional Conversations vodcast.

Here are the KEY TAKEAWAYS from Aiko's conversation:

It is a necessity to make sure you’re not just working with the C-suite employees. We need to ensure the people that are most pained by incompetence are seen.

Empathy and understanding people who have not walked in your shoes is difficult when someone hasn’t experienced the adversity you have, but we need to open that understanding.

Often when we think about empathy, we think we must go through what someone else has experienced, in a way that could diminish their experience. The way that creativity comes through this, is people who read literature can walk through and exercise what this person’s lens and perspective on life might be.

Use creativity for world building. There is a lot of effective learning to be had through literature. Can you read diverse literature and relate to characters as human? And if not, why not?

Leadership inherently centers whiteness, and we are already working at a deficit when other voices are not at the table.

We are at a competitive disadvantage, and a humane disadvantage, when we are not inclusive of other ideas and walks of life.

If someone must ask you to prove the case for DEI, maybe they’re not the right client.

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Dr. Nika White and her team welcomed Kobena Collins to the Intentional Conversations vodcast and of course wanted to share the encore presentation with you here.

Key Takeaways From Kobena:

1. Cultural competency is ever evolving, there are generational differences within our own cultures. Cultural competency is always a moving target.
2. There’s a difference between leaders and management. Leaders need to be open to feedback and if they don’t have followers then he/she/they are just going for a walk.
3. We should be looking for leaders who seek to promote others as opposed to themselves.
4. DEI is change management in essence., and we must bring awareness to the why in our stories.
5. Recruitment, retention, reputation, and representation, Resources are the 5 R’s and shape the outcome of what you bring to others.
6. No one population is a monolith, you will have differentiating opinions within one group of people, and they are all valid.
7. When we think about the mental state of DEI leaders, they’re working with varying degrees of push back.
8. The work of DEI can test your self-confidence, because one you’re pushing against the norm.
9. People don’t care how much you know until they realize how much you care. Learn about others so it becomes an authentic conversation.

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We were honored to have Dr. Pascal Losambe join us for our Intentional Conversations vodcast and wanted to share this encore presentation! We hope it inspires and teaches you as much as it did us.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM DR. PASCAL LOSAMBE:

1. As we obtain mindsight, we start to develop an appreciation for taking agency over how we behave in different situations, and we build our capacity for empathy.
2. Cultural intelligence - think about what skills and tools do I have to use my cultural understanding to relate to others to achieve a desired outcome. It's not something we do, but more of a mindset. Am I humble enough to accept that I don’t know everything there is to know about someone I encounter from a different culture? Am I humble enough to revise my perspective continuously so I can have a successful outcome?
3. Cultural intelligence acknowledges you have a specific frame of reference someone else doesn’t share.
4. When we engage with others, we subconsciously are processing, can I trust you, is this a safe space, is there a behavior that reminds me of a lived experience?
5. In our humanity, we share the same fundamental needs. They involve physiological needs such as air, food and water. Psychological needs and your purpose needs are among them as well. If a lower-level need is not fulfilled you cannot move up the triangle to reach self-actualization. Ask yourself how is my behavior impacting others in these core needs?
6. We need to acknowledge the uniqueness of others, without any preconceived notions. When we understand others better, it enhances our ability to show empathy. When we achieve this, we can reach our desired outcomes.
7. Race is one of those categories your mind has you pay attention to as we move through the world.  As an educator, it’s important to engage students with their prior knowledge, to foster an environment of autonomy related to the theme you’re trying to bring forward and try and connect it to their world.
8. Our frontal lobes are where we gain a sense of self, and with students this is still under construction. It really starts to impact their sense of who they are, and this happens unconsciously. It holds weight when they interact with professionals and leaders who speak to their identity.
9. If we can provide educators with the framework to focus on their cultural competence, we can achieve great things. Diversity needs to be valued, and its important to manage the dynamic of differences.
10. When you can identify your triggers, your mind can activate from the unconscious to the conscious.

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Key Takeaways from Ricardo's Intentional Conversations vodcast:

1. At its deepest level belonging is about ownership. Its not about a sense of affinity but “is it mine.” When both identity and identification are aligned.
2. If you don’t have a clear understanding of your own identity, it is difficult to ask others to create that space of belonging.
3. Sometimes what makes you feel like you belong, might make someone else feel like they don’t.
4. Empathy is critical, and it must be compassion towards people, belonging is the outcome.
5. It is hard for any person to show up at their best in any environment if they’re always questioning whether they belong.
6. Allyship needs to be taken further into mentorship, sponsorship, etc. This reframing is critical. The beginning of allyship is education.
7. We cant lead people to the highest levels until we know them at the deepest levels.
8. Instead of asking yourself how you can be more culturally sensitive ask yourself how you can be more culturally skilled.

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We were honored to welcome Rachelle Carrie to the Intentional Conversations vodcast where we discussed biases (implicit and explicit) and ways to manage these in the workplace.

Here are the Key Takeaways from this conversation:

1. Being in this space there’s a certain level of tolerance some might feel we have, but it does not take away the human aspect of who we are as practitioners.

2. Use your voice to channel your energy to make the greatest impact in times is disparity.

3. It is imperative for organizations to understand the importance to lean into the uncomfortable conversations. People will be feeling triggered at work, and it needs to be acknowledged.

4. Silence from leadership can come off as unaware to colleagues who are going through the heaviness of tragic events.

5. There is a lot of misinformation as to what to do as a company. It is not about marketing, it is about how to change policies and regulations within the organization.

6. Self-management and self-awareness are important aspects of strong emotional intellect.

7. We do not proactively practice active listening enough.

8. Have a conversation with somebody, and verbatim in 10 seconds repeat what they have said. Once you have done that you have already built empathy with the other person because you have repeated what they said, and you’ve given them that space. You listened, repeated, and that leaves the space for more communication and less misunderstanding.

9. Starting with family and friends is a good way to build empathetic skills so we can bring a more human connection.

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