Reflect Inclusive Leadership Coaching- Spaces Now Open!

I am delighted to share the launch of Reflect Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion's first Inclusive Leadership Coaching Program. This program is ideal for leaders seeking individual support to become more effective in their leadership roles.

Why am I excited about this program?

Inclusive leaders create real impact. Investing in inclusive leadership coaching extends beyond an individual to an entire organization. Coaching provides a confidential space for leaders to challenge their assumptions and develop an inclusive leadership style with clarity, authenticity, and knowledge.

Why should I choose Reflect?

The Reflect approach is uniquely designed using an inquiry-based learning methodology. We provide leaders with a wealth of practical and relevant resources, from academic research to podcasts and social media, to better understand how knowledge is created and unpack assumptions. This empowers leaders like you to confidently make innovative decisions and engage in difficult conversations about how organizational dynamics influence social, economic, and environmental impacts.  

How Does the Inclusive Leadership Coaching Program Work?

REDI's Inclusive Leadership coaching program is flexible and customizable to fit your leadership goals and objectives. Sessions are offered virtually through Zoom at times that fit your schedule. The core of the program supports leaders to move through five critical stages of growth:  

Setting Intentions: Setting specific intentions is critical to developing an inclusive leadership style. Connecting learning to specific, meaningful, measurable, and impactful goals ensures that coaching is designed to meet personal and organizational objectives. 

Mapping Challenges: It is crucial to unpack challenges that limit individual and organizational growth and explore systemic causes to create a holistic understanding of the complexities involved in creating change. 

Sparking Curiosity Through Inquiry: With so much information available, asking informed questions is critical to engaging with various resources, including academic research, podcasts, social media, and more. Inquiry-based learning skills ensure that leaders are equipped to take on new challenges as they arise. 

Defining Opportunities: Identifying high-impact opportunities requires a strategic approach to change. Exploring opportunities through an appropriate theoretical lens supports leaders in prioritizing resources and creating realistic expectations. 

Taking Inspired Action: The final step in the Reflect EDI Inclusive Leadership Coaching program is supporting leaders to take inspired action. Coaching provides the opportunity for leaders to seek feedback and refine future objectives. 

Register here if you are ready to start your journey with Reflect as an inclusive leader. If you would like to learn more simply, book a free 15-minute discovery call to find out if the Reflect approach is right for you.

If You Are Ready to Become a More Inclusive Leader- Take Time to Reflect

Is Your Organization's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy Competitive?

There is a growing interest among academics and practitioners in measuring the impact of EDI interventions in the workplace. This trend is gaining momentum partly due to backlash against DEI programs in the United States and, conversely, the recognition that EDI work has become critical to organizational success. While critics may seek to undermine progress toward equality made over decades, those who are committed to EDI have a crucial role in continuously evaluating the impact of their work, thereby ensuring its effectiveness and relevance. 

Initiating a discussion on the effectiveness of your organization's EDI strategy should be undertaken with a spirit of curiosity. It's crucial to delve deeper into how individuals in equity-deserving groups, such as women, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, Black people, Indigenous people, people in religious minorities, and more, have led and experienced organizational change. However, this conversation should not be limited to the workplace. It should encompass communities and industries, thereby broadening the scope and relevance of the discussion. 

Measuring the impact of EDI initiatives necessitates a commitment to challenging assumptions that have solidified into accepted practices. Unconscious bias training, employee resource groups (ERGs), and PR campaigns are common ways organizations allocate their EDI budgets. However, there is limited evidence to support the long-term impact of these interventions on equity, diversity, and inclusion.

As an employer, advertising equitable pay backed by independently audited data could provide a significant advantage in attracting and retaining talent. Similarly, tracking how investments in ERGs contribute to increased employee satisfaction, retention, and promotion is critical to ensuring the sustainability of these initiatives. Organizations can use many quantitative and qualitative methods to gain a holistic perspective on the efficacy of their EDI work. 

One of the reasons organizations are often reluctant to undertake rigorous assessments of EDI programs is the risk associated with receiving negative feedback from employees and partners. While this is an organizational risk, it is also an opportunity to involve people who have given their time, energy, and expertise to advance EDI, often taking considerable personal and professional risks to contribute positively to their workplace. The greater risk is being left behind while competitors and industry leaders learn from mistakes and invest in new ways of working, failing to acknowledge that the assessment process can build momentum toward change.

The outcome of a rigorous EDI Impact Assessment should be a renewed vision that includes confidence in what is working, commitment to pivot from what is not, and insights that lead to innovation in the future. Transformative EDI Impact Assessments consider organizational culture, EDI strategy, and policy context to help build a comprehensive understanding of unique opportunities within organizations and industries to lead change. 

To learn more about how a customized Reflect EDI Impact Assessment can benefit your organization, visit us at www.reflectedi.com. 

Further Reading

Andrea May Rowe and Corinne Schuster-Wallace (2023). Implementing EDI across a large formal research network: contributing to equitable and sustainable water solutions for a changing climate. GeoForum. 147 (103881) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103881 

Andrea May Rowe,(2018) "Gender and innovation policy in Canada and Sweden," International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 10 Issue: 4, pp.344-360, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-04-2018-0039. 

Caroline M. Elkins, Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss, Critics of DEI. Forget That It Works. New York Times, January 21, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/opinion/diversity-equity-inclusion-dei.html

OECD Focus on Gender pay gap reporting and equal pay audits Lessons learned across OECD Countries. (2023). https://www.oecd.org/gender/Gender-pay-gap-reporting-and-equal-pay-audits-Policy-Brief.pdf

Shirley Malcom, Strengthen the case for DEI.Science 383,1395-1395(2024).DOI:10.1126/science.adp4397

What the Princess of Wales Health Crisis Can Teach Us About Workplace Wellness

Many people around the world watched the Princess of Wales announce that she is undergoing treatment for cancer following her recovery from a severe abdominal surgery earlier this year. This announcement has followed weeks of speculation about her health, whereabouts, and conspiracy theories flourishing on social media in the UK and worldwide. 

Although the vast majority of people will never have to face illness in the public eye, this unfortunate situation points to the challenges that many people face when they seek a leave of absence from work related to illness or disability. Catherine has, in effect, taken a leave of absence from her job. Given the public nature of her employment, many people feel entitled to her personal medical information to justify her absence from official duties. 

What strikes me about the Princess of Wales's illness is that aside from her Royal status, scenarios like this play out in workplace environments in ways that deter people from seeking illness or disability accommodations regularly. The threat of office gossip is often a significant factor that limits people from asking for help. Disability accommodations can be short-term and a valuable source of support in the event of an acute illness. At the same time, long-term accommodations for an ongoing medical issue can distinguish between a flourishing career and exclusion from employment. 

Unfortunately, social media pressure and a potential data breach at the London hospital where Catherine obtained her surgery may have factored into her decision to share her private health information publicly. Her recent announcement demonstrates the importance of confidentiality in accessing healthcare. For many people employed in the public and private sectors, requesting disability accommodations is part of the reality of dealing with an unexpected health issue. While confidentiality often exists in theory, many organizations have multiple touch points where employees have to seek accommodations from different work units, including direct supervisors, HR, and unions. The more people involved in the accommodation process, the less likely a person's confidence will be kept. 

The fear of private health information becoming public and the unforeseen repercussions prevent many people facing a severe health issue from asking for support that they are legally entitled to. The wealth and privilege of the Royal Family will ensure that Catherine is shielded from unemployment, financial precarity, stigma, and social exclusion related to severe illness - a level of reassurance that most people do not have. 

As people worldwide reflect on her cancer diagnosis, let's take this opportunity to think critically about how we approach privacy and access to social and economic support in times of need. My top tips for organizations wanting to level up inclusivity for people experiencing illness and disability are grounded in simple principles of compassion and respect. 

1) You never know what people are going through: Make information about accommodations available to everyone when they join the organization and then regularly during their employment. 

2) Take a concierge approach: People with experience navigating an illness or disability are experts in their health. Systems that question lived experience are often unhelpful at best and damaging at worst. Disability accommodations are about equity, not equality. Organizations frequently veer towards providing everyone with the same support when individual needs may vary widely. 

3) Appearance is not an indicator of health: When people see a colleague out with the family looking well while on leave, they may question the sincerity of their absence. If you are fortunate enough to have never experienced severe illness, you may not be aware of the effort people put into a simple activity or outing. Judging people for looking well or unwell forces isolation and inhibits healing. 

4) Respecting privacy is about more than silence: While respecting the privacy of someone going through illness is critical, keeping the lines of communication open without expecting a response is essential. Inviting people to social events, education, and training opportunities can help them feel connected to their work environment even if they cannot attend. Ensuring that people are included in substantial emails, newsletters, and communications is a sign of respect. If a person on leave can participate in workplace events selectively, ensure they are welcome to participate and supported. 

5) Compassion drives excellence: People remember how others treat them with a laser-like acuity in times of vulnerability. Furthermore, others learn how they will be treated by observation. Demonstrating compassion builds organizational cohesion and eases the transition of someone experiencing illness or disability back into the workforce when the time is right. Disability is fluid, and illness can strike anyone at any time. Putting systems in place that enable people to manage their health is at the core of personal and organizational wellness.  

#PrincessofWales #WorkplaceWellness #EDI #DisabilityAccommodation