Imagine this scenario: A patient visits their doctor for their annual physical. The conversation goes as follows:
Patient: “What can I do to get healthier?”
Physician: “Well, for starters stop smoking, stop drinking, start working out, eat better and get at least eight hours of sleep per night.”
Patient: “Yeah, OK, I know all that. But what can I do instead?”
Physician: Shrugs exasperatedly
I often share this scenario as it represents the typical back and forth that diversity and inclusion advocates experience when they lay out what must be done to foster a healthier organization and are commonly met with, “Yeah, I know, but what can I do instead?”
The late Louis D. Brandeis, former associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, is known to have said, “There are no shortcuts in evolution.” People, it seems, are hard-wired to always seek the shortcut, and while we try hard to find the “easy button” or “the shiny new product,” the reality is that evolutionary culture shifts happen when behaviors and actions change.
We generally all know what we need to do but always try to find an easier way or workaround — and society reinforces our shortcutting tendencies. Take, for instance, commercials that claim one can lose weight overnight or make millions in a minute. In actuality, losing weight takes time, and in most cases, making millions of dollars does, too.
However, when it comes to fostering diversity and inclusion (D&I) in an organization, it fundamentally comes down to each individual overcoming the fear of doing or saying the wrong thing and, most importantly, finding the “why.” If one knows their why, it’s a lot easier to anchor to that stated mission, put in the time and make a concerted effort to go after the objective. D&I is very much an individual journey where folks need to get introspective, peel back the layers of their experiences to help dismantle the fear and learn what their respective mental blockers might be. This journey of growth requires time, effort, a sustained commitment and courage — the courage to embrace the uncomfortable and the temerity to be vulnerable. When we confront the fear, we can find our why and land at the paramount purpose for taking action.
Finding your why allows you to anchor yourself to a purpose and become fully invested in advancing progress in your workplace. I’ve always found I’m more motivated when there is a personal stake in what I’m doing. Whether it is at work, at home, etc., taking it personally allows me to tap into a different motivational gear and dig deeper. I describe it as a competitive drive to deliver on something central to more core values/beliefs. Finding one’s why can be a powerful motivator once it is discovered.
Whether you’re new to D&I in the workplace or not, here is a five Ps refresher to help you discover or rediscover your why:
• People : Everyone is unique and varied. The collective experience of any one person in an organization is limitless, and it starts with working to fully see and exploring each intersectional layer. Unlocking the perspectives of another person that were once closed off is an enlightening experience and can help on your way to earnestly learning your own why. Get introspective!
• Passion: There are issues unique to you that you care about (that you may or may not know yet). It might be those issues that fire you up, that you’ll volunteer for or that you’ll commit resources to, such as ideas and time. Within D&I, there might be a subject area that you can align those sensibilities to drive that passion. Use that passion as a fuel to try to make a difference on something central to you. Maybe it’s LGBTQ+ efforts or accessibility issues — whatever moves you, go for it. Activating and integrating your passion into your work makes you feel good and is rewarding personally. Not only that, but it can also be rewarding economically for an employee resource group or business resource group leader whose efforts impact the organizational bottom line.
• Purpose: Once you know what you care about, be purpose driven and take action on the subject. Is it accessibility issues or perhaps gender equity? Whatever the purpose, take steps to learn more about the subject, talk to more people who are experts or who are from that respective community and, finally, seek to understand.
• Pace: Start small and set reasonable expectations for your growth as well as your impact. D&I and culture work is very much a marathon, not a race. To be successful, folks need to pace themselves. An overly ambitious or simplistic agenda to do too much or too little at once is a road fraught with disappointment. Ease into the journey, and as the proverb by Lao Tzu goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” So step out there and go for it.
• Practicality: Practicality calls for a measured approach. It starts with defining what you are committed to doing and then sticking with those commitments. Write down the commitments, when you plan to do them, how you will do them and create accountability measures to ensure you stay on track. You can place the commitments in high-traffic areas like on your fridge, the bathroom mirror or even as the screensaver on your phone as a constant reminder of what you’ve committed to do. Go for what works for you and stick with it.
I’ll leave you with the words of Dr. Maya Angelou: “I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” Find your why — make it personal and make a difference in the process.
