On Being Consciously Inclusive

Rhodes Perry, in his book, “Belonging At Work” outlines everyday actions you can take to cultivate an inclusive organization. He writes, “An inclusive leader communicates the feeling of belonging by offering their stakeholders a sense of purpose. They have the ability to connect their organization’s mission and values to those they lead, and they ignite a sense of meaning for each and every stakeholder.”
Here at SunShower, we share Perry’s perspective on the need for belonging. Everyone is familiar with the research about salary as being only one of the factors that employees consider. They also want to be valued and want to belong to the mission. What a surprise! Being valued, respected and made to feel like you belong is a head and feeling thing. It requires emotional intelligence.
As Jonathan H. Westover writes in Forbes “As we strive to become consciously inclusive leaders, I believe it is important to acknowledge that it isn’t rocket science. In fact, it is quite the opposite; often it is rather commonsense approaches that can help us be more inclusive. In large part, it is simply a matter of consistently treating yourself and everyone around you with dignity and respect.
Everything you do should demonstrate your awareness and understanding of the ambiguities, messiness and complexities of the world around you. Help those on your team understand and feel that you sincerely see them and hear them; that they are truly valued, needed and wanted; and that they have a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the organization’s successes and future strategic trajectory. Make your organization a place where everyone wants to be and where they can flourish.”
We invite you to consider our Defeating Unconscious Bias and Inclusion in Action courses – leaders can work on their own implicit biases and then learn and practice 9 skills for inclusion. The Inclusion in Action elearning course is a foundational course that can start your DEI journey, or accelerate your learning as an organization.
More From Our Blog…
Embodying Ethical Leadership
In an age when faith in our institutions—academic, corporate and government—is at an all-time low, it behooves leaders to “do the right thing.” Paraphrasing Charlamagne, “Right action is better than knowledge, but in order to do what is right, we must know what is...
Right Where She Belongs
How Lisette Martinez creates an inclusive culture and a world of opportunity as Jefferson Health’s Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer By Gina Miller The innate desire to belong The year was 1984 in Ypsilanti, Michigan when the world fractured in...
The Accessibility Journey
Accessibility is typically about providing the ability to access a building, a vehicle or a service. In our world of online eLearning courses, accessibility means enabling all learners to engage with a course in the way they need and prefer in order to gain the...
The 21-Day Plan for Disarming Microaggressions Wins Two More Awards
The Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA) has recognized The 21-Day Plan for Disarming Microaggressions as a 2022 Davey Awards Silver Winner in the category of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The Daveys are an international award competition focused...
New! SunShower Now Offers the Most Modern and Flexible Formats To Meet Your Training Needs
Years ago, in a far-off time, SunShower delivered its training programs on VHS tape. All training rooms had tape players, TVs and projectors. Trainers would carry the training tapes, insert them into the machine and hope they wouldn’t be “eaten.” In those days, the...
Maslow’s Hierarchy and the Scientific Connection Between Belonging and Health
Humans have an innate need to belong. In fact, “love and belonging” are featured prominently in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This central model in psychology asserts that people are motivated by five basic categories of needs, and “belonging” (that is, the need to...
Diversity Is the Lifeblood for All Companies, but Is Diversity Enough?
“It's hard to imagine an economy driven by Latino and Latina growth when leadership at the board level and in the C-suite is far less than 5% Latino and Latina. That gap - between the face of leadership and the face of the economy to come - is a vast strategic issue...
Microaggressions… We have a lot to Learn
To be human is to be flawed, but our struggles have the remarkable potential to transform us. By addressing our mistakes and remaining open to learning, we broaden our understanding, increase our empathy and build our capacity to do better the next time. ...
Cristela Alonzo Reminds You That Your Microaggressions Were Never Okay
“I can’t say anything anymore”. That was the complaint from a participant in an online workshop on microaggressions. We had just watched a montage that weaves together common microaggressions and expressions of confusion and pain among those targeted and bystanders....
Focus on DEIB to Thrive During the “Great Resignation”
The “Great Resignation” continues along its historic path with 47.8 million workers quitting their jobs in 2021, which represented a record-setting average of nearly 4 million each month. As of March 2022, 8.6 million people quit their jobs this year. ...