What Separates Good Teams from Great Ones? Shared Leadership.
What Separates Good Teams from Great Ones? Shared Leadership. I have spent decades in boardrooms, on stages, and inside organizations of every size and industry. And one of the most consistent things I have observed is this: the teams that truly excel are not the ones with the most talented individuals. They are the ones where leadership is not hoarded at the top. They are the ones where leadership is shared. In my newest book, Leading High Performance Teams for Dummies, I make the case that shared leadership is not a nice idea. It is a business imperative. And the data backs it up. Leadership is Not a Title. It is a Practice For too long, organizations have operated under a flawed assumption: that leadership belongs to a select few at the top of the org chart. That model is not just outdated. It is costly. Effective leadership is not confined to title or authority. It is about influence, vision, and the ability to unlock the potential of every person on your team. In today’s workplace, where change is constant and disruption is the norm, relying on one person to carry all of that is a strategy for stagnation. High-performing teams understand something that average teams do not: leadership is most powerful when it is shared, distributed, and cultivated at every level. The Research is Clear. The Center for Creative Leadership reports that teams embracing shared leadership generate 23 percent higher innovation and demonstrate significantly greater agility during times of disruption. Why? Because when leadership is shared, the responsibility for success is spread across many shoulders. It creates a collective commitment to the mission rather than reliance on a single person at the top. McKinsey’s 2024 research on organizational agility found that leaders in fast-moving organizations reported 2.1 times higher operational resilience and 2.5 times higher financial performance than their slower-moving peers. That is not a marginal difference. That is a competitive advantage. What Shared Leadership Actually Looks Like One of my favorite real-world examples is W.L. Gore, the company behind Gore-Tex. Gore intentionally minimizes hierarchy and operates on what they call a lattice structure, where employees step into leadership roles based on expertise and passion rather than rank or title. The result? Breakthrough innovations and a track record of resilience in volatile markets. I have also had the opportunity, as an author for Microsoft’s LinkedIn Learning, to observe Microsoft’s culture firsthand. Their CEO shifted the organization from a competitive, siloed environment to one rooted in empathy, collaboration, and a growth mindset. The results were accelerated market growth, increased innovation, and a dramatic improvement in employee morale. These are not coincidences. They are the direct outcomes of making shared leadership a cultural value rather than a management strategy. Three Ways to Build Shared Leadership on Your Team Shared leadership does not happen by accident. It requires intentional action. Here is where to start: Delegate authority, not just tasks. Empower individuals to make real-time decisions based on their knowledge and proximity to the work. When people feel trusted, they show up with greater ownership and confidence. Decision rights should be driven by expertise, not hierarchy. Create rotational leadership opportunities. Allow different team members to guide projects, lead meetings, and represent the group in cross-functional forums. When people experience leadership from a new vantage point, they become more invested in collective success. Celebrate collective wins, not just individual stars. Too often, organizations spotlight individual performers while overlooking the power of the team. High-performing teams tell the stories of how different members stepped forward at critical moments, how expertise from unexpected places solved complex problems, and how shared responsibility accelerated progress. The Mindset Shift that Changes Everything At its core, shared leadership shifts the mindset from “me” to “we.” And that shift changes everything. When leadership is fluid, based on the situation and the skill set required, team members are more willing to step up, take initiative, and own results. When people see that their contributions matter beyond their job description, they bring more creativity, more commitment, and more accountability to everything they do. As I often remind leaders: teams are not simply collections of talent. They become high-performing when the right conditions are created. Shared leadership is one of those non-negotiable conditions. The question is not whether your team has leadership potential. The question is whether you are creating the conditions for it to emerge at every level. That is the real work of leadership today. Dr. Shirley Davis is a global workforce expert, executive coach, and bestselling author. Her newest book, Leading High Performance Teams for Dummies, is available now.
Understanding the Impact of Non-Inclusive Language
The following is an excerpt from my newest book, Inclusive Leadership for Dummies being released on May 7, 2024. Pre-order today from Amazon. Have you ever felt reluctant to engage with individuals who look, think, believe, or work differently than you because you were afraid you might say the wrong thing? Reflect on how this hesitation could influence your relationship with that individual. Demonstrating inclusive communication requires a continuous commitment to educating oneself about the potential effects of our own words on individuals from marginalized social backgrounds. If we’re honest, we can all admit that we’ve said things that we thought were acceptable but later found out that what was said was perceived as offensive, minimizing, and perhaps even illegal. In other words, we have all been guilty of inadvertently using non-inclusive language without realizing its exclusionary impact. Yes, even well-intentioned folk make these kinds of blunders, not to be malicious, but because we are human. Communicating more inclusively is a journey and each of us are at different mile markers on this journey. While I’ve been in Human Resources (HR) and in the inclusion space for more than three decades, I am still learning and evolving in my language and choice of words because I still have biases — as we all do. Here are a few examples of my blunders. I was speaking to a large group of leaders and consistently used the term, “you guys.” Yes, there were women in the group and I’m now sure it made some feel excluded. In another instance, I was working with a corporation who was focused on being more inclusive of their workers preferred pronouns, so using non-inclusive words such as “mankind,” “manning the booth,” “chairman,” “fireman,” or “policeman” might have been considered insensitive, so when I led a workshop for their staff, I proceeded with a heightened sense of caution realizing that certain expressions that are deeply rooted in societal norms may unintentionally marginalize specific groups. For example, using terms such as “mankind” to refer to humanity may inadvertently exhibit a bias towards men. Similarly, addressing groups with phrases such as “you guys,” and “ladies and gentlemen” can be perceived as exclusionary to those beyond cisgender identities. To cultivate effective and inclusive communication, our language must be attuned to diverse audiences, reflecting respect for all individuals. The use of intersectional and inclusive language becomes paramount in acknowledging differences and advocating for equal opportunities. In group settings, I use terms like “colleagues,” “friends,” “team,” “everyone,” or “folks” because they tend to linguistically be more inclusive. The same diligence should extend to references about colleagues’ loved ones, avoiding gendered terms that could be presumptive. In referring to people with disabilities, avoiding labels such as “handicapped,” and “crippled.” Consider language such as “suffering from bipolar disorder” or “on the autism spectrum” versus calling people “bipolar” or “autistic,” as this separates the person from the condition. Other examples include describing someone as “a person with loss of vision or a visual impairment”, instead of “blind,” or communicating that a person “uses a wheelchair” instead of describing them as “wheelchair-bound.” Instead of labeling someone as being from the “inner city” or “homeless,” opt for terms like “under-resourced” or “a person experiencing homelessness.” Why? Because when discussing individuals from varied socioeconomic backgrounds, the use of inclusive language guarantees that due respect and dignity are granted to them, irrespective of their upbringing or current residence. Furthermore, our choice of words can inadvertently reinforce socioeconomic disparities, prompting the need for careful consideration in professional communication. I realize that it can be daunting to try to get it right every time, and the reality is we won’t. When these blunders happen, I view them as teachable moments and lessons learned for future interactions. It’s crucial to be open, flexible, and adaptable without being judgmental and thinking that “people just need to get over it.” As inclusive leaders, we have to understand that what might be socially appropriate for one may not necessarily be appropriate for others. And what might work in a personal setting may not work in a professional environment. Pre-order your copy today from Amazon. And if you found this excerpt informative and useful, please leave me a review on Amazon. Thank you.
Oprah Daily – Featured Article “Building Unity Is Their Family Business”
Oprah Daily Article Oprah Daily – Featured Article “Building Unity Is Their Family Business” A promise she made to herself and God has led to a shared purpose and career passion for this writer and her daughter. Twenty-eight years ago, on Mother’s Day weekend, my daughter, Gabrielle Victoria (Tori), was born. While she was the greatest gift of my life, at the time, I was going through one of the worst periods of my life. I was in the midst of a divorce, buried in debt, and facing the frightening reality that I was now a single parent. As a Black woman mothering alone, I was now in the minority-one-parent-household statistic, and terrified that I’d make mistakes in parenting that would lead to my beautiful, innocent baby girl becoming a statistic, too. I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. In front of others, I put on a facade of confidence and surety, but I was stressed-out, losing weight, and feeling hopeless and alone. I even tried to fool myself into thinking I had everything under control at times, but one day, when Tori was 6 months old, I became present enough to notice her looking up at me with those big, beautiful eyes. In that moment, I was reminded of just how dependent on me she was, and just how broken I was. I no longer wanted to pretend that everything was okay. I prayed desperately, “Dear God, if you get me out of this debt and pit of despair, I promise I’ll never get into it again.” I also promised Tori that she would enjoy a life as full as any child with two involved parents and that I would be someone she could look up to as her shero. For me, this meant going back to school at night and on weekends in pursuit of my master’s and doctorate degrees, which I did while working a full-time job in human resources. I also committed to getting counseling and figuring out how to become debt-free. As Tori grew bigger and stronger, so did my desire to be the protection and example she needed in life. She started to experience things that I would have given anything to shelter her from. In kindergarten, unspeakably hateful words were spoken to her because of the color of her skin. She started to see the jagged edges of the world and began asking heart-wrenching questions about race that no child should be forced to ask. Simultaneously, I was facing my own battles with racism and prejudice at my job. The more my career in HR progressed, the more I began to experience inequities as a woman, a person of color, and a single mom. I was overlooked for promotions, had insensitive comments directed at me, and was made to feel invisible. I would sit in meetings and come up with sound ideas to implement that were ignored, yet 20 minutes later a white male colleague would utter the same words and be applauded. I had been told many times that I wasn’t qualified enough—yet asked to train people, even my new bosses! There came a point in my career when I entered into diversity and inclusion but quickly felt like I was the token Black. An interaction with a former employer all but confirmed this, and it was a crushing setback to my career. I was making so many sacrifices to be able to provide for Tori and had spent more than seven years obtaining my degrees and multiple certifications to take away the excuses of why I wasn’t worthy. I lost my sense of self and was miserable. Weeks later, when the hurt and devastation subsided, I got mad and purposeful. Even though I thought I wanted to be done with DE&I, I felt in my soul that if something didn’t change, my daughter would experience this same type of prejudice and racism when she entered the workforce. Although traumatic, this experience fueled my resolve and I forged ahead with my inclusivity work at a different company. After an intentional conversation about my career with Tori, who was now 14 years old, her passion for diversity and inclusion began. In the two years that followed, she became the first African American in Montgomery County, Maryland, to be a titleholder in the Miss America Teen Pageant, with a platform of “Eliminating Hate, Bias, and Prejudice in Our Society.” This led to her being selected as an ambassador for the National Youth Leadership Conference (hosted by the Anti-Defamation League) and working with Invisible Children, an organization that partners with local peacebuilders across central Africa. Her role was to educate people about the atrocities that children in Africa were enduring, and she was part of a team of youth ambassadors that raised over $10,000 to contribute to that cause. My daughter was following in my footsteps and picking up on the example I set out to be for her when she was a baby. I could not have been more proud. It’s been 30 years now, and I am still loving HR and DE&I work. The darkest moment in my career was ultimately one of my greatest lessons. I am now coaching thousands on how to step over racism and biases to realize their dreams, and I run a global consulting firm that helps organizations transform their work cultures. Last year, I was asked by Wiley Publishing to write the first-ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Dummies book, available on Amazon. I’ve kept my promise to God and to my daughter. Our purpose has now fully aligned, and last year, Tori made the decision to become part of my firm, working alongside me to help organizations build cultures of inclusion, equity, and belonging. It gives me no greater pleasure than to leave a legacy for my daughter, and together, we are making life better for those coming behind us. Shirley Davis, PhD, is the author of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Dummies, available everywhere.
How To Set Yourself Up With Less Stress In 2022 According To The Experts
Women are stressed to the max, but there’s a good reason. Stress is a feminist issue, according to Dr. Michele Kambolis, a mind-body health specialist, registered therapist, meditation teacher, and acclaimed author and speaker who has been practicing for more than 20 years.
Why You Procrastinate and, More Importantly, How to Stop
That work project that you’ve had an entire month to complete is due tomorrow. You planned to spend the whole day focusing on it — but Facebook is just so much more appealing today. You promised yourself you’d work out this morning but, wait, aren’t there new episodes of your favorite show out?
How Workers Should Prepare For the Job Market in 2022
One of the most dramatic storylines to come out of 2021 was the unprecedented state of the labor market. America learned terms like “the Great Resignation” and “the Big Quit.” Businesses that were eager to reopen after pandemic shutdowns couldn’t hire enough staff to meet the demand, no matter how much they offered to pay. Corporations across the country doled out big signing bonuses and imaginative benefits to average applicants.
How to Realize the Benefits of Inclusive Leadership
Dr. Davis’s recently published article on Fast Company can be viewed here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90683353/how-to-realize-the-benefits-of-inclusive-leadership Implicit bias training has seen a significant uptick in the past year following the national and international calls for greater justice, equity, and inclusion. I know this firsthand because my firm has been flooded with hundreds of requests from clients wanting their entire leadership teams and general staff to go through it. The core message of implicit bias training is that all humans have it as a built-in safety and survival mechanism. Our brains are hardwired to be biased but when left unchecked, it can have a negative impact on everyday interactions and decisions, especially in the workplace. But simply being aware that we all have biases does not let us off the hook. That matters more than ever because the workforce and the marketplace have become more global, multicultural, multigenerational, and hyper-connected. On top of that, they all bring differing needs, expectations, and ways of thinking, working, and doing business. The ability to lead more effectively across differences is a key lever for attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent, driving innovation and creativity, as well as expanding into new markets, and serving new customers and clients. In addition to implicit bias training, in the last 18 months alone, my consulting firm has conducted nearly 100 listening sessions, and more than 50 inclusion and employee engagement surveys and focus groups, and the results have been consistent across industries, sectors, and company sizes. Workers expect their employers to: value diversity, equity, and inclusion want their leaders to be authentic, walk the talk and live the company values have the opportunity to grow their knowledge and acquire new skills work flexibly and have more autonomy in how they work be paid fairly and competitively work in a ‘safe-to-speak” culture where their ideas and opinions can be shared without fear of retaliation be recognized and appreciated And they report that if they don’t get it, they are willing to walk away. Today that threat has become real. The U.S. job market is slowly recovering by adding thousands of new jobs, while at the same experiencing the Great Resignation, where workers are quitting their jobs in record numbers. In June alone, 3.9 million people said “I quit” which was slightly down from the nearly 4 million who quit in April. In a recent Monster.com survey, 95% of 650 U.S. workers said they were thinking of quitting their jobs. The main reasons for quitting are very aligned with what our firm heard from workers in listening sessions and focus groups—they are experiencing increased burnout, work-related stress, a lack of development and growth opportunities, low wages and poor benefits, lack of flexible work, and toxic workplace cultures. Wait, there’s more. The 2021 Work Trend Index report conducted by Microsoft a few months ago studied more than 30,000 people in 31 countries. It revealed some startling findings that should be a warning to all leaders. Five that stood out to me because of the consulting work we’re doing with clients around the world include: more than 40% of the global workforce is contemplating leaving their current employer this year flexible work is here to stay leaders are out of touch with employees and need a wake-up call authenticity will spur productivity and well-being high productivity is masking an exhausted workforce Wow, talk about having some work to do to re-engage, re-energize, and retain existing talent. This is a clear and compelling business case and a loud cry for more inclusive leadership. Successful organizations recognize that in order to attract top talent, increase employee engagement and job satisfaction, drive innovation and creativity, and enhance the customer service experience, they must cultivate an inclusive workplace culture. And that begins and ends with inclusive leadership. It cannot be a nice to do, it must be intentional and a continuous development process. While culture is everyone’s responsibility, leaders set the tone. I call them “thermostats” in the company because they set the temperature and create the atmosphere that workers experience. In my 30 years in human resources, I’ve seen more often that people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad leaders and toxic workplaces. Many of the reasons listed above of why workers quit or plan to can be avoided/recovered by having inclusive leaders. I get it. Being an inclusive leader is not as easy as it sounds. Inclusive leadership is much more than having a title, giving a hug, and being nice. It requires a paradigm shift, an openness to different ways of doing things, leaning into some discomfort, and demonstrating the courage to embrace the unfamiliar. Many leaders have neither the basic foundational knowledge about inclusive leadership nor an idea of what workers expect in their leaders today (they are out of touch, as the Microsoft study revealed). Employees are demanding, at the very least, that our workplaces be more inclusive, welcoming, and respectful, that they create a sense of belonging, and are free from harassment. For some companies with legacy cultures and others that have existed for more than a century, this is an extremely hard change management process. But it’s necessary. Therefore, every leader should upskill and develop new competencies that will do those three things: re-engage, re-energize, and retain their workers. They must be intentional about valuing diversity and inclusion. Intentionality can include listening attentively to understand others’ perspectives and points of view and creating safe and brave spaces for staff to feel comfortable sharing their ideas without fear of retaliation. Instead of using the same person(s) to carry out tasks and special projects, they need to intentionally spread opportunities around. And it means not only inviting more diversity to the table but soliciting diverse perspectives and ideas. When they observe or hear something that is inappropriate, insensitive, or insulting, they speak up and call it out. These daily acts of intentionality can go a long way to foster trust and belonging. Additionally, leaders must increase their level of cultural competence, which can begin with a self-assessment and
Want Better Sales Performance, Increase DEI Commitment
The workforce and the marketplace continue to experience dramatic demographic shifts that include more women, BIPOCs, and younger workers (e.g., Millennials and Gen Z) to name a few. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 78% of sales people are white. Women make up 50% of the U. S. workforce but only 39% of the sales workforce, and only 19% of leadership positions in sales. This lack of representation across gender, race, ethnicity, and other demographics can send a strong message that certain people are not welcomed in the sales profession. As President of SDS Global Enterprises, a global workforce and culture transformation consulting firm, we’re experiencing a significant increase in outreach from companies needing help in attracting more diverse talent and building a more inclusive, equitable, and welcoming workplace culture where ALL talent can thrive. Many of them are in Sales and Marketing (especially in pharmaceutical, financial services, sports, real estate, and technology) and they admit that they have a “diversity problem” [or lack of diversity]. Their sales forces are dominated by white men, and they know that they are not reflective of the changing demographics, their customers, or the communities in which they do business. The question you may be asking is “why is this important to them now?” I asked the same question because it’s always been an important business issue. I’ve been in the Human Resources and DEI field for over 20 years and as a Chief D & I Officer I’ve been pushing the business benefits of DEI in every company I worked. However, it was not always met with support, or the belief that DEI has an impact on the bottom line. But today, it couldn’t be more be a more clear and compelling case. Sure, the international protests and calls for greater equity, inclusion and justice following the murder of George Floyd increased the focus on DEI. So did the significant disparities and/or lack of access to health care, education, socio-economic and job opportunities that were revealed during the global pandemic equally contribute to the recognition that we have a DEI problem. But before these incidences, the business case was still compelling. Just look at the buying power of people of color and millennials, which is well over $4 trillion annually. According to Catalyst, a global consulting firm for women in the workplace, women controlled an estimated $31.8 trillion (USD) in consumer spending in 2019. For sales and marketing firms to overlook this reality would be a “going out of business strategy.” If this isn’t compelling enough look at the studies that reveal the impact of DEI. Studies from the Harvard Business Review, Boston Consulting Group, and McKinsey and Company show diversity has a strong correlation with organizational performance. McKinsey’s most recent report, “Diversity Wins: How inclusion matters,” revealed that organizations with diversity of gender are 25% more likely to be more profitable than their peers. It also shows that organizations with diversity of ethnicity are 36% more likely to be more profitable than their peers. The World Economic Forum’s report “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 4.0” suggests that companies with diverse employees have “up to 20% higher rate of innovation and 19% higher innovation revenues.” Similarly, the Boston Consulting Group revealed in its 2018 study on How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation that increasing the diversity of leadership teams leads to more and better innovation and improved financial performance. In both developing and developed economies, companies with above-average diversity on their leadership teams report a greater payoff from innovation and higher EBIT margins. Moreover, sales and marketing organizations want to attract top talent; they want to innovate and solve complex problems; they want to increase market share through a positive customer experience; and they want to drive sustainable performance. These are compelling enough reasons to embrace DEI as a business strategy, so no more asking “Why is it important?” or “What’s the business case?” The real questions now are “What can we do about it?” “How can we realize the value of DEI in our sales and marketing teams?” Here are a few tips and strategies you can implement: Adopt hiring practices and strategies to attract underrepresented sales professionals. Yes, they are out there. Cast your net wide and target organizations, colleges/universities, and events that cater to a high percentage of diverse members, students, and attendees. Don’t assume that you have to lower your standards or hire less qualified salespeople just because you are seeking more diversity. This tends to be the proverbial response when recruiting diverse talent and it is rooted in privilege and bias. Assume that talent comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, gender, and ethnicities. Review your job descriptions for sales and marketing positions to ensure that they contain inclusive language such as salesperson vs salesman. Avoid descriptions that tend to appeal to men versus women such as “aggressive” “competitive,” or “expert,” and when describing the tasks of the ideal candidate, use “S/he” or “you,” versus “He should possess…” Provide additional training such as Behavioral Interviewing, Emotional Intelligence, Unconscious Bias, and Cultural Competence to all sales staff, especially those who will be conducting the interviews and making the hiring decision. This will help to minimize the tendency to hire others like themselves, to avoid asking illegal and inappropriate interview questions, to be aware of how biases can play out in the workplace and in providing service to customers and clients, and how to foster a culture of inclusion, belonging, and respect. Embed DEI into your values and hold leaders accountable for living them out every day. Provide mentoring, coaching, and other forms of development for all new hires and ensure that their onboarding and orientation process gives them a level playing field and sets them up for success. Encourage diversity of thought and ensure that all opinions and perspectives are valued. It’s clear that sales and marketing organizations can no longer ignore the fact that the demographic shifts will continue to disrupt the workplace, the work, and the workers. They must commit to DEI
Unconscious Bias and Its Impact in the Workplace
I believe this is a very timely, relevant, and necessary topic. Yes, in this current climate, it couldn’t be more important to talk about unconscious bias and its impact in the workplace. Bias is a fact and it is something we all have. It is a part of our human makeup, it’s a part of our brain, and it is how we’re hardwired. It plays out in the workplace and impacts our decision-making everyday interactions. I want to share some strategies and tips with you for how you can address and mitigate your bias, and hopefully become more aware of what yours are so that you can also address them and move from having that unconscious bias to being more inclusive. Global research, as well as our US census data, tells us that right now we’ve got 51% of women in the global workforce and that we also have five generations right now working alongside of each other. There are seven billion people on the planet and, out of those seven billion, at least one in seven people has a disability, visible or invisible. We’re living in the era of disruption and the three Cs, which are accelerated change, overwhelming complexity, and increased competition—as you think about that, the greatest amount of competition that we have is talent. We’ve got different personalities, different communication styles, different needs, backgrounds, expectations, different faiths and different religious beliefs, and different values. We are certainly living in a more global, diverse, hyper-connected, but also multi-generational, multicultural, multiethnic, and now, a much more virtual workplace. I am certainly seeing companies focusing on this more and more, recognizing that the workplace is really complex. Let’s talk a little bit about implicit bias. Implicit bias is defined as an unconscious opinion and it can be positive or negative. I want you to think about some positive examples of bias or unconscious bias. We make decisions all the time, sometimes based on that. Positive stereotype or unconscious opinion are stereotypes, attitudes that we have about people or certain groups of people. Recognize that these messages, these rules, these stereotypes, and these opinions about other people were learned at a very young age and the more that they were reinforced through school and life experiences and the relationships that we had perhaps with our immediate family, but also with our extended family, our friends, our community, our places of worship, and certainly those things that we saw on TV and read in the newspaper and heard on the news. These are all the things that have shaped and formed who we are and they have created what we call “schemas” or “lenses.” The filters and the lenses through which we see the world are some of the non-conscious assumptions that we have simply because they have been reinforced over time through by all of those areas that I just mentioned: learned rules, our families, relationships, community, media, as well as experiences. We know that there’s been messages historically that have been taught from generations and passed on from generation to generation. They become so ingrained into who we are, so subconscious, that we’re not even aware that we have them anymore. I am someone that has been shaped and formed by all of my experiences, all of the messages that I heard, all of the things that I have been taught and read and heard, all of those things now create who I am, so I actually see the world as I am rather than the way the world really is. We believe that the way that we see the world is the way that the world really is. We assume sometimes unconsciously that everybody should see the world the same way. “I see the world out of a red-colored lens and you see the world out of a blue-colored lens and we’re trying to convince each other to see the world, the way that we see the world, when the beauty of all of this is that we get to see the world the way that it really is, but we learn from each other and we broaden our perspectives, we broaden our lenses and our frameworks in which we see the world. That’s how we become more effective at working across difference. But the more that we try to hold on to our differences and the way that we try to make our differences be the reality, be the truth, the more that we isolate people and the more that people feel a bit more excluded.” There are two parts of the brain that inform our decisions, our interactions, and this shapes our ability to truly accept or not accept differences, to truly make great decisions, biased decisions, or unconscious decisions. The amygdala is what I consider the back part of your brain. The amygdala is really where the biases lie. It’s unconscious. This is what we call the “fast brain.” Bias is a quick, snap judgment that we make. It’s a tendency and an inclination that we have to have to be able to interact with the world. Quick responses are important to survive, to be protected from anything harmful and dangerous. That’s where it lies is in our amygdala, in the fast brain, the unconscious. The other part of the brain is the prefrontal neocortex and what brain scientists say is our “slow brain.” This is also what we call the conscientious brain. This is where we are certainly being more reflective, more conscientious, and where we’re slowing down and being more aware of information. This is where we slow down and analytical thinking happens. This is where critical thinking happens because we’re slowing down, we’re processing, and we’re pausing to make a more informed decision. When we’ve got to make those kinds of decisions about people we hire, who our go-to people are, who we pay more, who we pay less, who we promote, what feedback we give to this person or do
There is Still Work to Be Done
It’s an honor to be published in the Tampa Bay Business Journal Jan. 15, 2021. Check out the article here: Companies that promised to review policies in 2020 in the wake of social unrest now face showing results in 2021. If 2020 will be remembered for anything other than the coronavirus, it will be for protests that spread to cities and towns across the nation in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. Months of marches were held in both Tampa and St. Petersburg. While the initial purpose of these marches was to spur government reform regarding policing, calls for equality and racial justice soon spilled over into other facets of life, including entertainment, education and business. Businesses ranging from the largest public companies in Tampa Bay to mom-and-pop stores put out messages of support and pledged to do better. Seven months after the protests began in late May, the organized marches have mostly died down. Progress has been made in some areas, but both sides — advisers and the companies themselves — know there is still plenty of work to be done in 2021 and the months ahead. “There are companies that are forward-thinking companies, and some companies … [that] are doing better but recognize they have a long way to go,” said Shirley Davis of SDS Global Enterprises, a Tampa Bay-based corporation that works with businesses to create more inclusive cultures. “There is still work to be done.” The momentum of the summer is waning a bit, said Cal Jackson, the director of Diversity and Inclusion global programs for Tech Data Corp. “There are still groups that are underrepresented in our organizations and what I feared is starting to happen: It can’t be a news cycle and there are unfortunately, police events that bring things back into the radar.” The slow march of progress Even before 2020, businesses were looking to diversify their ranks — both in leadership and among the workforce — and Tampa Bay was no exception. This has especially been the case when it comes to gender diversity. As of January 2021, 19 of the region’s 20 largest public companies had at least one woman on their board of directors, according to data provided by the companies to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. A majority of the 20 largest public companies had at least one ethnic minority on its board of directors, a group that primarily was comprised of Asian-Americans and African-Americans. But the majority of board members in Tampa Bay are white men, as is most of the leadership at those companies. That might be one possible explanation as to why many Tampa Bay companies tiptoed around this summer’s events and the issues they raised. Only three of the region’s largest public companies — Raymond James, Bloomin’ Brands and Welbilt — released statements concerning the racial unrest over the summer. Only nine of the companies have a diversity policy on their websites. And only a handful of companies have announced actual action taken to improve diversity within their company, such as creating a pledge to the Black community or hiring an executive to oversee diversity and inclusion. “We did an internal promotion… and created a new position: VP of diversity and inclusion, in order to formalize that process,” said Joanne Freiberger of Masonite International, adding that Carlini Rivers took over the position in November. Rivers had been with Masonite since 2016. But most companies have shied away from such actions, and most frustrating to SDS’ Davis are executives who are still unwilling to acknowledge that there are racial issues within the business world, let alone address them. “What’s disappointing is we have too many leaders … who turn this work into a political statement. ‘If we say Black lives matter, then we’re saying all lives don’t matter,’” she said. “We still have people who are resistant to it, who resist it in a way that sabotages and derails the spirit behind it. And regardless of the political, inclusion is a good business strategy.” Moving forward But perhaps that paints a bleaker picture than reality. Talking honestly about race can be a prickly issue that many companies would prefer not to discuss publicly. But Davis said interest in her company’s services has been robust. “I’ve been in this work for 20-something years, I worked in HR for Fortune 500 companies, and in that time frame I have not had that much demand and as many requests as we did in June and July,” she said. “It was amazing and at the same time, it was well overdue.” She said it started with helping companies craft statements during the summer protests, but continued on to holding listening sessions. Davis said she was impressed by the number of organizations that really did want to change how they operated, by conducting diversity audits and committing to making long-term changes. It starts at the top, Jackson said, quoting a story Tech Data CEO Rich Hume told him. “He said, ‘I saw just how our board of directors changed in regard to its dynamics and how they were innovative and their discussions as we put more women and more diversity on the board.’” It is important for companies bringing in formalized D&I practitioners and programs to continue progress in 2021, but the work isn’t just about racial equity, he said. It’s also about building environments of inclusion because that can boost the bottom line, not just promote good corporate citizenry. “We do this in our workplace for organizational effectiveness,” Jackson said. “[This work] decreases attrition, and makes us a progressive company so that we can always get great talent that wants to come work for us.” And, in a strange way, the pandemic has helped to achieve those goals, he continued. “It has pushed us to the realization that we can work and telework and we can have roles everywhere, and that gives us a humongous net that we can throw out now for phenomenal talent and not just based upon the location of where we need people,” he said.