Supporting authenticity at work requires systemic change at the organizational level. Here are some tips to support authenticity in your organization.

Authenticity has long been the subject of conversations focused on leadership and more recently on the individual contributor. Research suggests that when employees feel like they belong and can bring their true authentic selves to work there are benefits. But simply inviting people to be authentic at work creates unrealistic expectations, putting the burden on the individual to shed their protective mask despite the consequences.

When we feel comfortable bringing our authentic selves to the workplace, we’re more effective at building meaningful relationships, we’re more focused on our work, we’re more successful, we feel better, perform better and are in overall better health. In short, authenticity is better. Furthermore, inclusion happens when and only when everyone feels comfortable being who they are, and everyone is accepted for who they are.

This exercise uses independent work and dialogue to explore the difference between sympathy, empathy, and compassion – and understanding that different situations may call for different reactions or responses.

Over the past decade or so, empathy has gained notoriety as an important leadership competency. It’s important to keep in mind that empathy means something specific and depending on the situation is not always the best response. This article explores the difference between sympathy, empathy, and compassion – and understanding different situations may call for different reactions or responses.

Research shows that most people tend to feel greater empathy for people that are most like themselves and may feel less empathy for those outside their family, community, ethnicity, or race – suggesting that addressing the connections between empathy and inclusion in DEI strategies could lead to more favorable outcomes.

New research shows a direct link between inclusive decision making and better business performance.

If inclusive leadership feels easy, you’re doing it wrong. It takes effort, and because it’s worth it, leaders need to embrace the inevitable discomfort that comes with leading inclusively. 

Why are certain leaders more likely to create an inclusive culture? Fortunately, scientific research provides a great deal of evidence to answer this question, and there are three specific traits that stand out.

Great article that provides an overview of what six companies are doing to support inclusion with links to the more in-depth case studies.   

This article takes a fresh look at the business case for inclusion and what may be holding leaders back.

The Inclusive Leadership Training has been updated with new content and new interactive activities better aligned with today;s DEI challenges and opportunities. This is a full-day training but is designed so you can easily customize and pull content to adjust the length of the training

This tool is designed to help you assess the effectiveness of your DEI leadership capability.  Upon completion, you can assess your results using the self-scoring guidelines.

Quick tips and how-tos to help you navigate diversity challenges and opportunities

An organization’s ability to benefit from diversity and inclusion is directly relative to the D&I competency across the organization. All employees must understand the power in D&I and how to leverage that power to drive business outcomes. Here are some tips to get you started.

Tips for understanding positions of power and privilege and how to leverage in support of goals and the success of others.

During this time of social distance and remote working it is critical that we maintain a culture of belonging to reduce feelings of isolation in our workplaces.  Here you can find a list of ice-breaker questions that you can use at the start of your meetings to engage employees and provide them the opportunity to dialogue with colleagues.

What exactly do we mean by the term inclusive leadership? Is leading inclusively an entirely different concept that “regular” leadership? Or do we just need a strategic shift in our mindset?

The Inclusive Leadership Personal Development Plan is a tool designed to help individuals identify inclusive leadership competency strengths and opportunities for development. The tool identifies key competencies associated with the concept of leading inclusively and provides a thought process for building competency in each area.

As inclusive leaders, it is our responsibility to provide vision, guidance, and motivation so ALL individuals can leverage their unique skills, talents, and individuality in pursuit of common goals. What does that really mean?

This short 12-question assessment is based on our Inclusive Leader Competency Model and provides an opportunity for you to reflect on your own behaviors and identify opportunities to improve your inclusive leadership competency.

This assessment is based on our Inclusive Leader Self-Assessment and provides an opportunity for you to check your assumptions about your own leadership style against the assessment of your employees.  

Justin Baldoni wants to start a dialogue with men about redefining masculinity — to figure out ways to be not just good men but good humans. In a warm, personal talk, he shares his effort to reconcile who he is with who the world tells him a man should be.

Tracing the contours of her career, America Ferrera calls for more authentic representation of different cultures — and a shift in how we tell our stories. “Presence creates possibility,” she says. “Who we see thriving in the world teaches us how to see ourselves, how to think about our own value, how to dream about our futures.”

Like any strategy, the success of your diversity and inclusion strategy is dependent on setting the right goals.  Listen to this talk with your diversity and inclusion team and use the facilitated discussion and action planning worksheet to apply these concepts to your own goal-setting process.

Speaking up is hard to do, even when you know you should. Learn how to assert yourself, navigate tricky social situations and expand your personal power with sage guidance from social psychologist Adam Galinsky.

We often find ourselves stuck in narrow social circles with similar people. What habits confine us, and how can we break them? Organizational psychologist Tanya Menon considers how we can be more intentional about expanding our social universes — and how it can lead to new ideas and opportunities

A native of Turkey, Elif Shafak has experienced firsthand the devastation that a loss of diversity can bring — and she knows the revolutionary power of plurality in response to authoritarianism. In this passionate, personal talk, she reminds us that there are no binaries, in politics, emotions and our identities.

Trust is the foundation for everything we do. But what do we do when it’s broken? In an eye-opening talk, Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei gives a crash course in trust: how to build it, maintain it and rebuild it.

Celeste Headlee has worked as a radio host for decades, and she knows the ingredients of a great conversation. Participants will listen to her Ted Talk and engage in interactive discussion and practice exercises to advance the concepts shared in her talk.