Do you know what a Protean Career is?

In the 21st Century, you’re probably trying to develop one without even knowing it

This has some interesting implications for Diversity and Inclusion

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re going to be talking about Protean careers, why it matters to you and why it matters for Diversity and Inclusion

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• The relationship between Protean Careers and Inclusion
• How the Pandemic accelerated our Protean Careers
• The defining features of a Protean Career and much more

Protean Careers are value driven by individuals

“as part of a protean career people shape their career according to their own internal values and beliefs instead of an organizations values and beliefs”

Protean Careers are self-directed in terms of career management

“Recent events have accelerated the idea that you not your employer is responsible for managing your career and your development. I’m not going to labour this point because as a regular listener to the show, I already know that you’re committed to learning and development.”

Protean Careers require organisations to demonstrate their values

“In the 21^st century, if you don’t reflect the right values, this is going to affect not only your employees but other stakeholders, suppliers, partners, investors, your clients. Your clients have values too.”

SHOWNOTES

Protean Career

Protean and boundaryless career attitudes: relationships with subjective and objective career success

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Some people think that it’s possible to talk about Diversity and Inclusion without being political. Do you think that’s true?

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re going to be talking about why Diversity and Inclusion is a political issue; whether you like it or not

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• The relationship between Inclusion and Identity Politics
• How Inclusion work is political
• Why you should consider how political your inclusion journey is and much more

 It’s not always easy to separate ideas from identity

“This depends if we’re talking about the identity of the person speaking or the concept of identity in general. Context is crucial here but in the context of inclusion separating them may be difficult”

Some say that creating change makes you political

“The author of that book identified the book as being political because of his commitment to “improve the lives of disabled people”. His commitment to change made him political and he’s not the first person I’ve encountered who had that opinion”

Promoting Inclusion has implications

“The reality is, Diversity, Inclusion, these things come with commitments and implications and we need to understand to understand what they are”

SHOWNOTES

How to disagree productively and find common ground

Element of Inclusion Conversation Thread That Inspired This Episode

Why I Avoid Debates About Diversity and Inclusion

The post The Relationship Between Diversity, Inclusion & Identity Politics appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

How many times this year have you got into debates about diversity and Inclusion?  For me the answer is really simple… zero

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re going to be talking about why I don’t really get into debates about Diversity and Inclusion

This was inspired by a question that I’ve received in our Linkedin group the Element of Inclusion Community based on last week’s show

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• Why I avoid debates about inclusion
• Why a debate may be framed for disaster
• How this podcast helps you to address inclusion questions and much more

 Debates can set you up to create conflict

“Most of the time, a debate is presented as a form of regulated conflict where someone wins the debate and someone loses the debate”

Avoid false conflict when talking about inclusion

“We give provide you with information so you can think critically to make your own mind up. As much as possible I try and point out my own bias so you can take that into account too”

Inform, educate but also listen

“When we meet people whose values aren’t aligned with ours, we still try to inform and educate if they want to listen, because we’re likely to learn something from them, if we want to listen”

SHOWNOTES

The Collision Theory of Employee Resource Groups

How to disagree productively and find common ground

Why Collisions May Be The Secret to Creating Inclusion

The post Why I Avoid Debates About Diversity and Inclusion appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

What if the secret to creating inclusion wasn’t bringing everyone together to be comfortable

What if the secret to creating inclusion was to bring everyone together to collide?

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re going to be talking about collision theory and employee resource groups. I know, sometimes it sounds like I just make this stuff up but I don’t.

Every week, we inform and educate using applied research and thought leaderships and this week is no exception

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• How you can use Collision Theory to drive inclusion
• How resource groups can create the energy you need
• Why bursts of energy can cause catastrophe or advancement and much more

Employee resource groups increase energy in individual members

“resource groups give people confidence; helps people to develop as leaders but it also boosts the energy of individual members compared to people who aren’t members”

 Personal energy can be used to create collisions

“The energy is deemed to be essential to being able to successfully handle individual collisions with people different from you”

Collisions may lead to changes in behaviour and release more energy

“collisions release energy, and it’s the ability to use that energy to work together to create something bigger than themselves that helps organizations meet their inclusion goals”

SHOWNOTES

The Collision Theory of Employee Resource Groups

The post Why Collisions May Be The Secret to Creating Inclusion appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

When it comes to work, we all perform, we all wear masks

some people like me use props

We’re all concerned with managing the impression we make

That’s the view of the author of the ground-breaking book that I’m discussing in this week’s show

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re reviewing ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’ by Erving Goffman

This book is a classic it’s one of the most important books that you’ve never read because it explains so much about how you behave at work

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• How we manage the way that we are perceived by others
• How marginalised groups manage the way others see them in the workplace
• The amorality of impression management and much more

People are motivated to control the impression they make on others

“when an individual appears before others, that individual will have many motivates for trying to control the impression they receive of the situation”

In order to influence others we perform

“Performance is described as “all the activity of an individual which occurs during a period marked by his continuous presence before a particular set of observers””

How you view your performance matters

“Another way to think about it is does our performance act in the best interests of the audience. It’s assumed that we benefit personally but does the audience benefit?”

SHOWNOTES

Erving Goffman

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

My PhD Thesis

The post The Performance of Self In Everyday Life  [Book Review] appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

What kind of role do you play to promote Diversity and Inclusion?

We’re all playing a role.

But what is your role?

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re going to talk about what you’re doing, the part that you’re playing to create a more inclusive workplace

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• Why it’s important to understand the role you play in inclusion
• My role as an Inclusion Protagonist
• How you can define your own role in Inclusion and much more

Understanding what you want tells you what to do and what not to do

“The point being that there are some clear do’s and don’ts; we’re all human but what makes a protagonist compelling is that there are things that they will do and there are things that they won’t do”

Understanding what you want helps to define your role

“You don’t have to be on a mission to help a million people, you don’t even have to be on a mission. But if you get clarity about you want, you can then make simple decisions, predictable decisions about how you act in order to get what you want”

Understanding what you want helps to define your behaviour

“One of the most compelling things about any story, any protagonist is that they want something; not only is it very clear what they want; but they keep talking about it; they do things in order to get what they want”

 SHOWNOTES

Amplifying DEI US vs Europe

The post Defining Your Role in Diversity & Inclusion appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

There’s a quality that I’ve seen in the best Diversity & Inclusion Leaders

it’s something that unites them and it’s something that you can develop over time for yourself

I’m not talking about persuasion skills

I’m not talking about communication skills

I’m not even talking about empathy

I’m talking about something else

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re going to talk about one of the most desirable, most highly valued skills that I’ve ever seen in a diversity and Inclusion leader

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• Why the best Diversity & Inclusion Leaders are hiding in plain sight
• The hidden attributes that support their behaviour
• The reasons why they may not fit in and much more

Here’s some of what I share in the show:

They have a critical mass of knowledge

“There’s a critical mass of knowledge. Having that allows you to select, to choose to decide. Without it, you’re part of the problem instead of being part of the solution because it makes the inclusion journey of everyone around you longer instead of shorter”

They interpret based on skilled contributors

“they draw together approaches, techniques, perspectives in order to create meaning from people who are highly trained and highly skilled”

They have taste based on their critical thinking

“anyone who has taste, has developed it over time, they’ve thought about it, it’s particular to them, their knowledge and experiences.”

SHOWNOTES

The post The Best Quality of Diversity and Inclusion Leaders  appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

There’s a reason why people think diversity and Inclusion interventions don’t work

There’s a reason why people are comfortable describing diversity and Inclusion as a tick box exercise

There’s a missing character in Diversity and Inclusion Work

Get your pen and paper ready because I’m going to discuss some of the fundamental reasons why diversity and Inclusion isn’t effective and the missing character that we need.

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• Why people think Diversity & Inclusion interventions don’t work
• Why people are comfortable describing Diversity & Inclusion as a tick box exercise
• What’s missing from Diversity & Inclusion and much more

Organisations that focus on Community and Compliance make limited progress

“The result can often be an empty shell policy, we talked about this in a previous show, it’s a term used by Professor Hoque and Noon to describe equal opportunity policies that aren’t genuine, policies that are in place, but aren’t in practice. Policies that aren’t having the outcomes claimed”

Not enough organisations focus on Competence and Character

“After the event, one of the organisers Ken said he liked the conversation because there’s a lot of focus on competence but there’s not enough on character and that struck me”

The Character of an organisation influences our relationship with it

“I want to tell you about a game I play whenever I come into contact into an organisation. I look at their behaviour and the values that are demonstrated and I ask: Would I be friends with that person? “

SHOWNOTES

The 7 Biggest Diversity & Inclusion Mistakes Being Made in Your Organisation: Leadership

Why Using Common Sense is a Diversity & Inclusion Mistake

Why Adopting a “One At A Time” Approach to Diversity is an Inclusion Mistake

Why a One Size Fits All Approach to Diversity is an Inclusion Mistake

Why Relying On a Generic Business Case For Diversity is an Inclusion Mistake

Why Relying On Credibility Indicators is an Inclusion Mistake

Why Relying On A One Off Intervention Is An Inclusion Mistake

3 Clues to Reveal if You Have An Empty Shell Policy Towards Racism

Robert Cialdini

The post The Missing Character Of Diversity and Inclusion Work appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

Not Being Racist isn’t good enough anymore

You’re being told that you need to be Antiracist

How Do you be an Antiracist?

This book has got answers but it’s clear to me how many people have got it all wrong

Get your pen and paper ready because we’re reviewing How To be An AntiRacist   by Ibram X Kendi.

This is one of the most important books that you can read on racism and antiracism but it’s not the first book you should read

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• The Binary nature of Antiracism
• Why being Antiracist is not a fixed state
• Why Being Antiracist is a verb and much more

Antiracism focuses on policies not people

A racist policy is described as “any measure that produces or sustains racial inequity between racial groups”

Antiracism comes with commitments

“Antiracism as conceptualised here has commitments that really need to be understood particularly by organisations. The author describes capitalism and racism as twins arguing that they were born and raised together, they are co-dependent.”

Being Antiracist is a process

“This means that its going to be repetitive and sometimes challenging work that means we have to be as reflective as the author was in the book”

SHOWNOTES

Centre for Anti Racist Research

Ibram X Kendi

How To be An AntiRacist   

White Fragility

The post How To be An Antiracist  [Book Review] appeared first on Element of Inclusion.

Demand for Diversity and Inclusion Practitioners is at an all time high

But Not everyone shares your values, vision and approach

I want to share with you a tactic that we use to identify our type of clients

Get your pen and paper ready because I’m going to share a secret that I use when working with clients, its gonna save you so much time and energy

In todays show we discuss several things including:

• The Increased Demand For Inclusion Practitioners
• My tactic for engaging exciting clients
• Our Three Core Principles and much more

Here’s some of what I share in the show:

If you’re highly competent and highly skilled, organisations are lucky to be working with you 

“If you’re knowledgeable, if you’re a subject matter expert, if you actually know what you’re talking about; I don’t care if you describe yourself as being passionate about diversity but if you are highly competent and highly skilled

You should know that there are not many people like you”

Not everyone shares your values, vision and approach 

“A lot of these organisations have varying levels of interest, some want to do something, some want to talk about doing something, some just want you to do stuff for free and loads of things in between”

Create something of value to identify those who share your values, vision and approach 

“Am I saying you should start a podcast, well I think there’s plenty of room for high quality podcasts so yes, but if you don’t want to do that, can you create something that delivers value to your clients BEFORE they become your clients?”

The post The Secret Inclusion Tactic We Use With Our Clients appeared first on Element of Inclusion.