Your Personal Diversity and Inclusion Journey Makes a BIG Difference
There is no single right path to becoming an organization where diversity and inclusion thrive. There is, however, a deeply meaningful diversity and inclusion journey each of us can choose to take, or not. If enough of us choose the journey, it becomes the solution. Here’s how I know.
I once worked for The Company that offered a ticket on the personal diversity and inclusion journey to all interested employees who fulfilled one requirement. You had to assemble a diverse group of people who were willing to talk openly and personally about diversity. They had to be vulnerable, to talk about their beliefs, their assumptions, their ignorance, their hopes and fears, the questions they were afraid to ask, and more. A trained facilitator, myself among them, worked with each group.
The Company changed. For example, in the course of one year, a senior leadership team transitioned from a group of all white men to a group of some white men, one Hispanic man, one black man, one black woman and one white woman. Schools became more diverse in communities where The Company employees and their families lived. When people who worked for The Company went to work in other companies they spread the learnings from their diversity and inclusion journey. Some of The Company employees started their own companies, and they infused the culture with the diversity and inclusion virus. It was, and still is, an organic approach to large scale transformation. It works.
Dare to Walk the Path?
This week, I’m inviting you to take a few steps on the diversity and inclusion journey. I’m also asking for your comments, which will be incorporated into a virtual community post.
This part of the journey involves openly and actively listening to a talk entitled “Beloved Community” by Tara Brach – psychologist, meditation teacher and author. She borrowed the phrase from Dr. Martin Luther King, who used it to describe our potential for living together with love, justice and respect. Tara’s talk explores the often hidden expressions of racism that fuel separation and violence. It points to pathways for healing and freeing our collective hearts. It is lovely and deep. It touches our fears and the true generosity of our hearts. Tara gently challenges us to explore and reconsider other-ness, to change how we see, who we see, and what we see in the world around us.
This part of the diversity and inclusion journey takes 54 minutes 38 seconds. It’s a lot of time in a world of nano second news bites, snap chats and text messages. But what if those 54 minutes and 38 seconds make a BIG difference? If not, you can exit the journey and resume your life where you left off, no worse than when you started.
If you’re willing to get on board, instructions for your trip appear below.
- Create time and space to settle in and away from distractions.
- Listen here. If that link doesn’t work, try this and scroll down to Beloved Community.
- Add your comments to this post.
- Check back for updates as continuous revisions incorporate new comments.
I believe we will create a poem that speaks to the strivings of the human soul and the longing of our hearts. I believe we are on an evolutionary path and we can all play a part in nudging humanity forward.