Are you starting (or restarting) a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative at work? That’s great! I am sincerely proud of you. If you are doing it right, you are probably feeling uncertain and maybe even a bit afraid of what is going to happen.
This kind of work, if done authentically and with the goal of transformative change, takes courage. Certainly not the courage that is required to be a person of color, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, a person with a disability, or any other marginalized person. But courage, nonetheless.
For every CEO who says they want to know the real results of their workforce equity and inclusion survey, there are far more who really only want to hear how well they are doing. Even more don’t want to do the survey because they are certain they know how their employees are feeling.
Many leaders want to check a box with a few hours of sensitivity training. Maybe bring in a motivational speaker or post a couple of things on the company intranet to celebrate X History Month. These things are nice, they really are. They can foster community and create shared experiences. They are not equity and inclusion initiatives that bring about change.
Transformative change requires the courage to face those employee surveys, reading every comment without coming up with excuses for why that negative response is an example of a disgruntled employee rather than accepting that there is something worth examining in that comment. Transformative change requires leaders to be intentional about creating a diverse workforce that is more than a headcount of the people of color on the payroll. It is a pay equity review that includes a solution for correcting inequities. It is a comprehensive review of policies and procedures to make sure they are truly inclusive. It is cultural competency training that requires employees to understand themselves and their own blind spots, not just to memorize a list of ways to not offend their colleagues. It is about implementing restorative justice techniques to help resolve conflicts. A lot of these things aren’t nice. They can be difficult and painful. Transformation is rarely nice as it is happening. This is the difference between repainting your living room (nice!) and renovating your entire kitchen by taking everything down to the studs and working with an architect to create a functional and modernized space (transformational!).
We all wish for a more inclusive and equitable world, whether at work, at school, or within our communities. If you are a leader, you must lead through the challenges and difficulties. As writer Elizabeth Gilbert said, “Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.”
