Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Leading With Inclusion wtih Alsyha M. Campbell
38 Plays1 year ago
Join us for a thought-provoking episode of "The 3D Podcast", where we welcome an award-winning, best-selling author and a highly respected Strategic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leader with a decade of experience that encompasses all facets of Human Resource Management and DEI, Alsyha M. Campbell.
Expect to gain a deeper understanding the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly when it comes to Inclusive Leadership and what leaders today need to do in order to lead their companies through the challenging social and economic times we are in.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the 3D Podcast and Cedric Chambers
00:00:10
Speaker
Hey, I'm Cedric Chambers, and I would like to welcome you to another episode of the 3D Podcast, a masterclass where we share with you everything you need to know about how to transform diversity and inclusion in your organization as well as in your community. We're on a mission to amplify the voices of leaders that are making an impact in the world today so that we can have a better tomorrow.
00:00:22
Speaker
Thank you.
00:00:34
Speaker
Our goal every episode is to keep it simple, honest, and transparently by uncovering the truths in diversity and inclusion with the hope of creating behavioral change all while presenting it from a unique perspective. So look, if you're ready, get your notepad out, pour you a drink, and let's dive deep as we discuss the dimensions of diversity.
Meet Alicia Campbell: DE&I Leader and Founder
00:01:04
Speaker
Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of the 3D Podcast where we speak to real practitioners that are making real change in the diversity, equity and inclusion space. Look, I'm excited for our show today as we are speaking to Alicia Campbell. Alicia is an award-winning, bestselling author and highly respected strategic diversity, equity and inclusion leader.
00:01:22
Speaker
with a decade of experience that encompasses all facets of human resource management and DE&I. From executing successful multi-million dollar workforce diversity and optimization projects to spearheading inclusive employee culture initiatives, Alicia has truly seen and done it all in the DE&I space.
00:01:39
Speaker
Her passion for the industry has led her to start her own HR consultancy and strategy agency, Culture Shift HR. A founder and principal, Alicia uses her business acumen to help companies utilize and engage their best talent while creating purposeful, diverse, and inclusive work environments that help businesses grow and thrive. Look, I'm excited for this discussion, and I hope you are too. So without further ado, let's jump into it.
Alicia's Career Journey into DE&I
00:02:06
Speaker
Hey, Alicia, how are you doing today? I'm great, Cedric. How are you?
00:02:09
Speaker
Oh, I'm blessed and highly favored. Look, I am excited. I'm excited. I'm excited to have this conversation, right? You know, I think that...
00:02:19
Speaker
In the world that we're in, in everything that's going on, when we think about leadership, when we think about being an inclusive leader, I think there's a lot that we need to understand and tackle in this space. And so I'm excited to be able to speak with you in that area and really dig deep here as we go through this show here. And the first place I would say we would start is that
00:02:41
Speaker
There's a lot of people in the space and any space, right? And one of the things I'm just very, very fascinated with is the journey, right? The journey to becoming you. And so, you know, I would love it for our audience, right? You could just share a little bit into, you know, your journey as you've navigated life, your career and kind of how you got into the diversity, equity, inclusion space and would love to kind of see like what drove you to start Culture Shift HR.
00:03:09
Speaker
I love that. Absolutely. So I started in talent acquisition. It's funny. I graduated university. I went to a recruitment firm for them to kind of help me find a job at the time.
00:03:21
Speaker
which was in accounting, believe it or not. And I ended up leaving there with a job offer. So they saw my energy, my personality, and they're like, yeah, do you want to be a recruiter and join our team? And at that time, you know, I was looking for a job. I was like, I ain't nobody to be turning down no money. I need, I need to work. So I said, yeah, I didn't know that that yes would change literally the projection of my life in so many different ways. And what I mean by that is, you know, you start in something, not really knowing your footing, not really knowing where you're going, but
00:03:51
Speaker
Slowly this path starts to not only direct you but it starts to shape you as a human being and for myself it was really key because Anyone in talent management or acquisition will know you meet a lot of people
00:04:04
Speaker
They're talking to people all day. You're interviewing them. It's kind of like a little bit of a, you have your own talk show because you're just talking to people nonstop. And so I realized by quickly that, you know, as I'm helping people navigate their own careers by helping place them in different jobs and opportunities, my curiosity didn't stop there.
00:04:21
Speaker
I always wanted to know how are they doing in the companies? Are they happy? Are they getting promoted? What's next for them? And so I realized, you know, as much as I loved talent acquisition and helping people navigate, you know, that next great opportunity, I needed to know more. I needed to kind of know the full employee life cycle and kind of what that looked like and my role in making sure that environments were
00:04:42
Speaker
making people happy. Because when you think about it, we spend, what, eight, maybe 10 hours a day at work. Now, mind you, a lot of us are virtual now or remote, so we have more flexibility. But I'm talking 10 years ago, there wasn't remote work. It was in the office every day. And realizing for me, wanting more out of my career, it really started to carve the path of how
00:05:05
Speaker
I navigated happiness in the workplace. And so through my own curiosity and me asking lots of questions, I continued to rise the ranks. I left talent acquisition, got more into the HR kind of stream where I had more access, more opportunity.
Burnout and the Birth of Culture Shift HR
00:05:19
Speaker
I touched more levers in regards to the employee experience, and then slowly kind of made my way up to director, senior advisory positions within the human resources field. And what I noticed is that because I was so employee experience focused, a lot of the time,
00:05:34
Speaker
I was realizing not only one being a woman, but two being a woman of color, how experiences were so different for people in the workplace. There was always that group, I'd call them the popular kids, that loved work, loved what they did, always had advancement, always had opportunity, always got the best and brightest projects. And there were just others who just weren't getting it. And they were smart and talented and driven and incredible human beings. But you could tell there was a divide in the workplace. And so
00:06:03
Speaker
That's when I really began to dive deep into DE&I work through my own HR experiences and my own experiences coming up in the workplace. And in 2018, I hit a wall. I was mentally, emotionally, and spiritually burnt out. I was working, you know, I was tired of working twice as hard for half the pay, half the promotion, all the things. And I really had to ask myself serious questions because of the way that I was treating myself. But I'm talking about
00:06:32
Speaker
you know, up at four, bed at two. Like, it was just really, really, the amount of pressure and circumstances I was putting myself under just to continually push and promote and advocate and show my worth was just, you know, driving me into the ground. And so, actually, it was a friend of mine that actually said, like, Alicia, like, you, you really need to stop doing this. This is, first of all, they don't even, nobody cares, meaning that no one other than her was going to come and tell me to stop doing this. They see the emails, they see the late night messages,
00:07:02
Speaker
But no one's going to come to save you. So don't wait for it. And two, you deserve better than this. And you need to find a space where you feel seen, appreciated, loved, honored, and valued based on what you do. And when she spoke to me, that's why I had that awakening. And from there, I created Cultureship. They are.
00:07:19
Speaker
And I had no clue what I was doing. I did not have no master 50 page business plan. I had no marketing strategy. No, nothing. It was just, I needed an outlet to say like, I love the work that I do. I know the work I do is so important. It's so key, but I need to do it for people who actually want it done.
00:07:36
Speaker
And so slowly but surely the business began to grow and I built it really off the side of my desk for three years. And then this year we went full time, you know, as a sustainable company, you know, very well into the six figure range. I have a team and to think of where this started out of a place of pain and agony and stress. And now it's this beautiful flourishing business that's connecting and helping leaders and creating a new narrative around inclusive leadership and culture. I'm blessed every single day.
00:08:05
Speaker
But if anyone takes anything away from that story, it's really that bet on you. If I can do it, you can do it. And I know that sounds cliche, but there is nothing better than saying, I'm going to do something. And meaning that so much that you owe it to yourself to do it, and then seeing that come to life. I love it. I love it. I mean, just hearing the story to get here and understanding that you were burnt out. Let me ask this question, and I got one more about culture shift HR.
00:08:35
Speaker
as you were going through it, how, cause when you're starting a business and you're thinking about doing something right, there's always like a, there's like a, I don't say a nervousness, right? Which is like, man, should I do it? Like I'm going to do it right now. This is going to be the moment. Like what really like push, push you to say it has to happen right now.
00:08:57
Speaker
Mm-hmm. I love that question because the feeling that I had only when I started cultureship and when I went full-time into the business has only happened twice in my life. And I'll explain them in a second. So when a moment of faith, you know, I really, I know that God has a stand on my life. And when I think about the way he's navigated me and every in any circumstance, we try to say that I listen, I try to be really attentive to what's going on, but I am not perfect. I am incredibly stubborn. I feel like, you know, I, I,
00:09:26
Speaker
I wear or used to wear hardness and hardship as a badge of honor, as I think a lot of women do because it's like, I got to earn this. I got to work for this. And it's like, nah, not everything needs to be that, but for me at that stage of my life, that's where I was at. And it literally took it when I say like,
00:09:44
Speaker
God really had to shake my world apart and make me realize what was going on. That's when I realized, okay, this cannot be my be all and end all. And so it was my friend coming to speak to me, realizing the condition that I was in.
00:10:00
Speaker
you know in all the different facets and i wasn't taking care of myself and i was very very clear and other people were saying similar things but i really wasn't listening it just i was black it out because i thought this is what i had to do i was like i was wrong i'm gonna do all the things like you know we always we always say and do and it's not that i wasn't capable but i was going to such extremes that.
00:10:21
Speaker
under no circumstance any human being should have to go under. And, you know, God just literally called this woman into my life who I didn't even know that well, which was funny to say, hey, listen, I don't know what's going on, but you really got to reevaluate the way you're going about things. And that was what
00:10:38
Speaker
Shook me to my core and i guess i woke in me to realize what was going on and then number two when i went full time into the business i was debating that decision for a year i knew it was time but as always like a little bit longer when i wait till i hit this revenue goal there wait till this end.
00:10:54
Speaker
And I was like, nope, I woke up. I had this feeling in me. I'm like, something's going to be different today. And then work just was different that day. And I decided, I'm like, I've never felt this motivated to leave an opportunity to do this. I'm like, and I quit on the spot. And then that's not me at all. Like I am a very thought out, you know, very mechanical person that's like very thoughtful and very intentional. I never just make a rash decision.
00:11:19
Speaker
There was nothing else I could have done that day that would have been more truer to myself than making that rash decision. And it was the best decision because a week later from not having a job lined up, yes, I had culture shift, but it wasn't at the state that I imagined it needed to be for me to even be in that space full time. I closed a six month contract. And so it was gonna be affirming like, I got you. I know you say you trust me, but you really gotta trust me if we're gonna go through this together. And he hasn't let me down since.
00:11:49
Speaker
And so to say that it's like going on that leap of faith, having that opportunity, again, not only trusting in me, but trusting in God to know that this is the vision he has for you. You have to step into it or else you're not going to receive it. And it's understanding that we have to take that action. We have to activate the faith that we have in order to receive the blessing
The Essence of Inclusive Leadership
00:12:09
Speaker
that's meant for us. And so that's just the journey that I've been on. And it's been an amazing blessing and I can't even put into words what's going to be happening next year.
00:12:19
Speaker
Wow, look, I'm trying to hold it. Look, this is like a praise dance moment right there. I might look at like, hold on. Look, when God says move, move please. Or he will move you. That's like he will move you. Yeah, by moving everything around you, right? It's like an earthquake, right? That's like, look, I'm gonna make it so uncomfortable for you to be in this space that there's only one way out, right? And so it's hearing, I love it.
00:12:50
Speaker
That's the, man. I'm thinking like now, like if I had to get my own testimony, I'm like, look, hold on for a second. This is good. And so let me ask you this. Man, that was good. Get back into it. Give it to me. So my last piece, and we're going to hop into this inclusive leadership piece, is that I want to make sure. So when we think about your organization, Cultureship HR, just briefly, what type of work is the organization doing today? Is it focused just on one specific area?
00:13:17
Speaker
you know, one type of delivery method, training, consulting, I just tell us a little bit more about, you know, the organization and what the work you are doing today. Yeah, absolutely. So we, we do both fractional HR or human resources services, as well as full scope, diversity, equity and inclusion, consultancy services. So what that means on the HR side, a lot of startups and small businesses don't have the capacity to bring on a full HR person. So I'll be like their fractional head of HR.
00:13:45
Speaker
come in, write policies, programs, initiatives, really set the pace and really set the culture for what HR needs to be. And then on the DE&I side, we do everything from audits, trainings, program management and execution, as well as fractional head of DE&I services. So very similarly to organizations that need that DEI lens on their work in the culture, et cetera. We also provide that as well. And the framework that we utilize on the DE&I side, it's my own framework called the 4A's method.
00:14:12
Speaker
And so really, when we come in to do anywhere with any client, we always start with an audit, then we do an assessment, then we create an action plan, and then we get into the activation phase. And so through the 4A's method, you're really able to see the different mechanics and opportunities and frameworks that really elevate culture and really begin to build inclusivity at the core of what you're doing. And what's the website? So folks want to come to you and check you out?
00:14:37
Speaker
Yes, a CultureShiftHR.com or my personal site, AliciaCampbell.com. They both link to one another on LinkedIn, IG, all the things. You can find all the information.
00:14:47
Speaker
Awesome, awesome, awesome. I'm excited. Everyone, she gave me the information. Now, the only thing she could do is lay it out there. I need you to take that step and go contact her. Let's get into the topic today, and I'm excited because there's a lot that's going on in our society, in our world right now, and leadership. Leadership, leadership, leadership. It has a huge role in this. I'll say it that way.
00:15:09
Speaker
And it's something that we can say that hey this person is a leader or they're leading this organization but the title and actually being it right and actually exhibiting the characteristics and actually doing something is different right and so when we think about this ideal of.
00:15:27
Speaker
you know, a leader and more specifically an inclusive leader, right? We hear this word a lot. You hear the word inclusivity a lot, inclusion a lot, and then you hear it now in front of a leader, right? And so I want to make sure that, you know, we just spend some time to really dive into, you know, what it is, you know, how do we get to this place? How do we show these characteristics, development, et cetera, and go from there? But to start it off, where I want to start is just to kind of set the baseline of foundation. Can you
00:15:54
Speaker
Let our audience know what does it mean to be an inclusive leader just so we have a starting point that we can launch off of.
00:16:03
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So when you think about the word inclusive leader, a lot of people kind of just think about the core word leadership, right? Like, you know, you have a team, you lead your team, you hit milestones, deliverables, etc. But when you add in the word inclusive to it, it really begins to change the scope and the dynamic of how that leader needs to activate and the expansion that they need to have, both from a mindset and a culture perspective to really lead inclusively.
00:16:29
Speaker
So the definition around inclusive leadership kind of comes down to four key elements of its definition. So one, it's about leading a diverse team. So knowing that we live in a globalized world, a lot of our teams, especially now being remote since COVID, we have teams all over the globe. We have people in countries we may not have even visited before, that English may not even be their first language.
00:16:51
Speaker
And so being able to first lead a diverse team, but then when you think about leading a diverse team, what does that even mean? So one, diversity. We have to be mindful and elevate our cultural and emotional intelligence around the elements of diversity dimensions. The way people show up, the way that intersectionality plays a role in our identities, it's important that we have a higher cultural intelligence to understand how diversity comes to life.
00:17:16
Speaker
The way that I solve a problem is going to be different in the way somebody else's. My experiences are going to be different than somebody else's. And it's not to paint everybody with the same stroke or with the same brush, but actually taking the time to understand how that diversity comes together. And then the second part is to really create a culture where it can thrive and actually be activated.
00:17:35
Speaker
And so there's a saying that says diversity is a fact, inclusion is an act. Because when you think about it, you have two people in a room. You have diversity. The people are going to be different. But inclusion and actually having people be inclusive, it takes intentionality.
00:17:52
Speaker
an opportunity to say, how am I making sure that I'm valuing and honoring your experiences, your voice, your insights, et cetera, to this decision, to this project, to the work that we're doing? And it's really about then honoring and understanding the magic that people bring, like actually taking the time to be mindful and purposeful to then include it and make it a part of the equation.
00:18:13
Speaker
And then what kind of wraps that definition up in a really beautiful way is that we need to be mindful that as our human nature automatically kind of ingrained in us from before we're even born is that we are not made to be inclusive. We are not made to think in an inclusive lens. So we have to automatically think about how can I have an anti-bias towards inclusiveness and diversity. So understanding that we have unconscious bias, understanding that we have blind spots, and taking the time to actually explore what those are.
00:18:43
Speaker
And what's interesting as, you know, probably any one of us who's listening has experience to reflect on ourselves and to think about, okay, what are my blind spots? It's an uncomfortable conversation. We don't want to admit that we may have had, you know, incidences or conversations that could have been racist, sexist, and all those other isms, but that's human nature. We are built off of our experiences and our environment as we continue to grow and be the human beings and leaders that we are. But if you can understand the power that has and take the intentionality to
00:19:13
Speaker
understand those blind spots, that's how your inclusivity really becomes to get activated. So an inclusive leader really begins to build out on all those key components and understanding how it affects you as a leader, your team, and the culture that you're looking to build.
00:19:27
Speaker
No, this is awesome. It's making me kind of think through your definition. I want to get your thoughts here. When you take that understanding of an inclusive leader and then you drop it into the environment that we're in right now when it comes to the social, the economic conditions that we're in and everything that's just in the world right now,
00:19:48
Speaker
As a leader, as an inclusive leader, can you just speak to the importance of if someone's not there yet or they're thinking about, how do I change my leadership style? Not going into how to change it right now, but specifically, what's the importance understanding the current environment that we're in right now for leaders to think in this way? Yeah, absolutely.
00:20:14
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's first to recognize that the world has changed. If you are still believing that, okay, I can continue to lead the way that I've been leading, and still expecting to be competitive, still expecting to be strategic, and everything that, you know, companies expect of leaders, this is going to be a little bit of a rude awakening.
00:20:32
Speaker
I think it's important that you begin to expand your knowledge, your information, your experiences to understand more about the world around you. And I say that in the sense of getting outside of your comfort zone of the experiences you are familiar with and get and understand experiences that may never come into your atmosphere of influence or understanding before and dig deeper.
00:20:52
Speaker
I think that is the first part of learning to open that awareness and really becoming very cognizant of what's going on around you. I think number two, wanting to take any action or even begin to begin on an inclusive leadership journey, it comes back to yourself. Before you can even begin to influence your team,
00:21:12
Speaker
your company, policies, your community even, you need to know where you stand. And so taking an anti-bias test or any test that helps you understand your biases or your blind spots, listening to a podcast, a book, watching a movie, a documentary, whatever that is for you that allows you to learn, take the time to learn and reflect and realize and question the assumptions that you've had and write those down and really be mindful of how this is the filter that you create your decisions through.
00:21:41
Speaker
These are the filters that you communicate with. And now that you understand the impact of what that means, how are you now going to be able to change and shift and really not lean into those previous notions that you've had as a leader? And so before anything can even activate in a broader scope, it really starts with us. It starts with the leaders themselves and really taking the time to say, I no longer want to be ignorant.
00:22:04
Speaker
I no longer do not want to know. I know I can't know everything, but let me start. And it starts with even you. Do your own little reflective of who am I? Write down your own diversity dimensions, right? What is your makeup? And then understanding that you are made of so many different pieces and so many beautiful elements that create you. Do you even understand you?
00:22:25
Speaker
And then we take that lens and say, okay, now how am I supposed to understand my team and create inclusiveness and connectedness as a culture? You then need to understand them. So if we can't do the work ourselves, we can't even begin to understand the work of other people. And I think that's important that it really, really necessarily begin with us before we can do any external work
Consequences of Ignoring Inclusivity
00:22:44
Speaker
at all.
00:22:44
Speaker
For organizations, and I kind of want to make sure like we know what inclusive leader is, we kind of understand it and we got some context around some of those things that we need to do. I think broader, right? Just a little bit broader here. Like what are those, like what are the repercussions, right? You know, for not going down this path, I would say, right? When we think about, we need to change or we're thinking about the environment, the world is coming, becoming more diverse. There's more that's just happening along the way. We need to really, you know, change like,
00:23:14
Speaker
The flip side of that, for organizations to where it hasn't clicked or for leaders to where it just hasn't clicked, what are those consequences, some of those things that you've seen happen as a result of leaders not really taking this new approach to how they lead, whether it be organization in their community, et cetera?
00:23:35
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So many unfortunately, you know, detrimental things to the, to not even the company, but to the team itself. One, you see a lack of engagement off the bat because there's only so much someone's going to do or say or activate before they're like, you know what, I'm just going to be, I'm just going to be, I'm not really going to be here. I'm going to kind of check out.
00:23:56
Speaker
So your team isn't going to be engaged. Number two, your team is not going to have the psychological safety to feel that they can take risks in order to give you their best and brightest ideas. So they are going to be sleeping on making sure this team activates and gets its goals done and accomplished at higher levels. Three, your team is going to feel isolated and alone. And so members of your team are going to feel like they can't connect, that they're there just to, you know, be a task orbit and go home at the end of the day.
00:24:22
Speaker
They're not going to feel included. They're not going to feel like anything or anyone cares. And that's going to be demonstrated in the energy and the insights that they bring to the team. And I think four is that your team isn't going to hit the great results you want them to because they ultimately just aren't activated and feel included enough to do that.
00:24:39
Speaker
And I think, you know, when we think about old leadership tactics, it's like, okay, you push your team, you drive your team, you know, until you need to get to the gold or whatever. And it's like, as we've clearly seen from COVID, from working from home, from quiet quitting, to everything else in between, we're done. We really could not give to us if we did not want to. In all honesty, like, we are best. Yeah.
00:25:00
Speaker
I owe you nothing. That's the mindset of employees. I literally, I don't owe you anything. You already have my time. That is it. You're not going to end up anymore. And I think leaders need to understand. That's what I mean. The tide has changed. It's not that we, I mean, again, I'm painting right now a little bit of broad strokes, but employees realize the value they bring. They understand that there is a life outside of work. They understand and have re-prioritized what's important. So if you're no longer adding that value to their life where they are feeling seen, appreciated, heard, included,
00:25:30
Speaker
then you're not going to get that full person to show up every single day. They're going to put that energy into other areas of their life. And I say that personally, because that's what I did. And that's kind of where I got to when I hit that wall and started college, because I'm like, I have no other outlet. I have no other opportunity to feel sane. So I'm going to create that for myself. And so leaders need to recognize that there are going to be repercussions and there are going to be side effects if we don't really begin to take intentionality of inclusive culture seriously.
Enhancing Inclusivity: Advice and Tips
00:25:58
Speaker
I hope you're listening.
00:26:01
Speaker
Like, I hope everybody is listening. Look, y'all going to see me look down. Why? Because I'm taking notes. I'm telling you, look, everybody taking notes, right? Because, you know, this information, we got to sit with it, right? We need to understand, you know, listen to the information that you're providing, right? Before we react, right? We just, you know, kind of just sit in this, right? And really understand, really take that intro perspective, intro perspective look here and say, hey, how am I showing up?
00:26:28
Speaker
How am I showing up in the spaces that I'm in so that we can become aware of what's happening around us, right? Because like I said, back to the quiet quitting and the things that's going on.
00:26:39
Speaker
You can think things are going great because results are coming on the other end, but the way by which you're getting those results are going to be a detriment to the organization, to the individuals, et cetera, longer, for a longer period here. And so I want to transition a little bit here because you have a lot of people who, let's say that they are inclusive leaders, right? And they get into organizations or they leave their organization and go to a new one. And the organization just,
00:27:07
Speaker
might not be as inclusive, right? Or it might not be there yet. And I know this happens a lot.
00:27:16
Speaker
How should someone approach a new role or new company when the culture isn't there yet or the culture isn't how they have experienced in the past when it comes to inclusion? What's those first couple of things that people need to do to really be culture changers and really shift the culture in these organizations as they come inside of it?
00:27:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. I think if you're coming into a new organization and you understand the power of inclusion, you want to make sure you're creating an inclusive culture for your team and ultimately help to provide an inclusive culture for the company, I think it's recognizing where people are at.
00:27:58
Speaker
I think when people hear that it's like oh you're making an excuse or you're giving them a blind. It's like absolutely not. But I think we have to recognize that people are on different spectrums of their inclusive leadership journey. So I can't be as an example on a level five and you're on level one and being like pick it up.
00:28:13
Speaker
There's so much in between that needs to happen before we get into that spot. So that element of empathy needs to be there. Now, I say that saying that if someone chooses to not be inclusive deliberately, or they are not wanting to at least understand and try to put in the building blocks of making sure that the organization becomes more inclusive, that's something that needs to come to a decision on their own. You can influence, you can help, you can support.
00:28:36
Speaker
But we can't force anybody to do anything they don't want to do. So I would say don't spend your time on people who really don't want to put in the work. Focus on the people who do and help support them and help them to grow.
00:28:47
Speaker
There you go. Somebody needs to hear that. I'm sorry. No, I love it. Then from there, it's being the example. Show how your team is better performing. Show how they're more engaged. Show the power of what inclusivity can do. Other leaders are going to start to see that and pick that up too. By being an example, it's about leading in, providing support resources,
00:29:10
Speaker
talking to people, bringing communities together and showing the power of what community can bring. And the rest kind of just falls into place. If you're going to be that advocate and kind of that shepherd for that, I think it's one, know that that comes with responsibility if you're ready to take that on, but two, also know that there's only so much within your control and to do what you can, but continue to not lose yourself in the work. Focus on also making sure you're taken care of and that your team has the best version of you possible.
00:29:36
Speaker
Yeah. No, I love it. I love it. And so at scale here, we've got a couple more questions. If I am in HR, right? Or I am a leader within my organization, right? And I'm trying to determine like,
00:29:48
Speaker
if my leaders are inclusive, right? If they are there yet. What are some of those signs that I should be on the lookout for before I call you, right? That I can see like, these are some of the behaviors that I'm seeing broader in the organization. These are some of the behaviors that I'm seeing within those individuals so that, you know, someone is trying to figure out, they might be sitting here listening to the, the, the, the podcast and they're like,
00:30:11
Speaker
And I have like five leaders, kind of just demonstrating those. And it's like, let me call Alicia real quick and figure this out. But what are some of those keys that people can just observe and see so that they can decide and say, okay, yeah, it's time for us to really make a big shift here when it comes to what's happening at that level.
00:30:33
Speaker
Absolutely. I think two, usually organizations have some type of annual engagement or culture survey. Look at the data. What are your employees saying? What are they not saying? And that will give you a really good baseline on what people are thinking. What are the areas or even employee demographics that are feeling less involved than others? What are the programs or elements of your workplace that are maybe getting in the way and hindering and un-helping?
00:30:56
Speaker
And three, how are your employees connected back to their managers or their leaders? You're going to be able to derive all that from a really good and robust culture survey. Number two, you want to look at your attrition rates. So what is the turnover that we're having now?
00:31:10
Speaker
Nutrition is not tied directly and necessarily to inclusivity. People leave jobs for many different reasons. However, if you're doing exit interviews, you should be able to see if there is any key themes of how people are able to show up and really be included or feel included in the work that they are doing. Are they constantly getting pushback? Are they getting questioned twice as much as their other colleagues? Are they getting opportunity to be visible and be seen and actually elevate their own knowledge and opportunity? Are they getting access to higher development or opportunities to excel and get promoted?
00:31:40
Speaker
is an opportunity to get mentorship or opportunities to be seen and utilized differently in the business. All those things you'll be able to derive if asking the right questions from an exit interview. And then I think three, it's really just, if you're a leader and you kind of want to get a sense of actually what's going on at doubles, I would say have conversations. You know, it can be a little bit intimidating.
00:32:02
Speaker
For example, the CEO wants to sit down with a new employee, but take the time to... If you're given that opportunity, one, use it, give your feedback, give your insight, and leaders really, really listen. And what I mean by that is take your ego out of the way. This has nothing to do with how you're feeling in this moment. It's all about your employee. So do some skip-level meetings, have run a focus group, have real conversations with employees that are on that level of doing the work, engaging with the managers and leaders,
00:32:30
Speaker
to get that real insight feedback and understand what's actually going on and that you're not just hearing it secondhand from the leaders themselves. So I think activating any of those three things will help you get the data you need to help create the narrative, to then help create an action plan and next steps of how you're going to tackle and really start to create
Resources for DE&I Understanding
00:32:49
Speaker
more of an inclusive culture.
00:32:51
Speaker
I got those down. Make sure we go back to my team and say, look, everybody sit down. Let's talk. Let's talk. Oh, this is... I'm sorry. How is this crazy? Look, as we're getting closer to the end, I know that I'm just doing the work that you're doing, right? You have to be an avid learner, right? And I am a big proponent of, look, there's some things that happen
00:33:13
Speaker
inside of our organizations, right? A lot of the education right happens outside, right? It's that us being able to go and just really care about this work, dig deeper, really do the self-assessments, really do the deep looks at ourselves to figure out how we need to change and adjust. And so for those individuals that are looking to do that, are there some resources or some places that they can go, right? Or some really good books or some things that can really start to help them
00:33:39
Speaker
really put all of this information into perspective so they can use it and begin to build upon this right as they grow in their careers.
00:33:48
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So there's on both the Cultureship site as well as my personal site, there's guides, there's tip sheets. We have online programs as well. If you want to explore that avenue of training, definitely check those out. If you just even Google, you know, DEI and inclusive leadership resources, books, movies, whatever your medium of preference is, you will find an incredible list of resources.
00:34:11
Speaker
There is a list as well that I have Cedric that I can share with you and you can add it to the podcast so that people can click on that and download it. But really learn in a way that's meaningful for you. So if you don't want to read, you don't have to go read 10,000 books. Find a podcast, a show, a movie, whatever other element that is, a paper, a case study.
00:34:29
Speaker
get that information. The world we live in, there is no excuse that you cannot consume content in the way that you like to still get the information and insight you need. So do not make that a barrier, make that an opportunity. And as long as you have the curiosity and the drive to learn, you will learn and use trusted resources, trusted even having coffee chats with other DEI practitioners like myself, you know, the world is full of them in different areas. I focus more on racial equity
00:34:53
Speaker
There's elements, whether it's education, health, culture. There's so many different facets to this work. I could not do it justice alone, and there's incredible practitioners and workers out there that focus on so many different areas of this. So, you know, have a coffee chat, set up a Zoom meeting, and just talk, just learn, and you'll be fascinated what you can walk away with in 30 minutes.
Starting Your DE&I Journey and Further Engagement
00:35:12
Speaker
No, that's awesome. Do you have a favorite out of all of that? Because the conversations for me are the favorite. I love to just sit down and talk. And even after I read something or I go through some information, to be able to talk it out with somebody and be able to get all my thoughts and perspectives out. But I'm curious if there's something that you have as a go-to for you in that education element here.
00:35:37
Speaker
Yeah, I'm the same age as you. I love talking to people. I have a really great network of other DEI practitioners in all different boats. And so we have to get together. We meet up at events. We do one-to-ones, catch-ups. And they just, I'll just ask them a question and we can just go on for hours. And then they themselves are also always publishing articles and blogs. And I, you know, I take the time to read them and to follow up and really just learn through people. That's the way that I like to navigate this space as well.
00:36:04
Speaker
No, that's awesome, that's awesome. So look, this has been an amazing conversation. Before we go, do you have any shout outs or any parting words? And one more time, if you could just let folks know where they can find you, because I know they'll be reaching out. But any parting words before we go, any last kind of things you want to leave the audience with?
00:36:24
Speaker
Yeah, just start. I would say just start. You know, start with yourself. Ask yourself some questions. Read an article or two if you're comfortable or want to know how to even ask the right questions for yourself, but just start in some shape or form. Just start. And for those of you who are going to want to reach out to me, www.CultureshipHR.com, www.AliciaCamp.com. I'm on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, all the things, or email Alicia at www.CultureshipHR.com. Reach out, ask me questions, set up a coffee chat.
00:36:53
Speaker
Would love to hear and connect with all you connect with all of you No, that's awesome And we're going to link all of the websites and information in the notes in the description So everyone please you can find any information that we discuss or any sites or anything in that space there But this has been an amazing conversation. Thanks everybody for joining us on another episode 3d podcast This has been Cedric and you've been listened to Alicia Campbell founder of culture shift HR. Thanks Alicia Thank you
00:37:23
Speaker
Awesome, well that does it for us. Thank you for joining us on another episode of the 3D Podcast. If you would like to connect on social media, follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, at Cedric and Powers. And if you have any questions you'd like me to read or answer on the show, or just want to know more about my thoughts around diversity and inclusion, entrepreneurship, or just overall business, you can text me. Yes, I said text me at 770-285-0404.
00:37:52
Speaker
You'll receive content straight to your phone on a regular basis and you get message back and forth. Not a bot or an assistant. All responses come directly from me. But look, this has been a great episode. Until next week, this has been Cedric Chambers and you've been listening to the 3d podcast. We out.