“DO is easy, BE is very hard”
This was the phrase that has been planted firmly in my mind since listening to Moving Ahead’s Inclusion and Diversity Summit last week in celebration of inclusion week.
In a world of targets, reaction, and strategy, when it comes to diversity and inclusion it can be all too tempting to fall into a solution-focused mindset at the expense of being in the questions and discussions. The Moving Ahead annual Summit Series is an invitation to pause, and to be with the stories, questions and challenges surrounding inclusion and diversity.
Whether you are a line manager wanting to know how to talk about racial equity in the workplace, an HR leader creating a culture of ‘speaking up’, or an individual wondering how to share their LBGTQ+ identity at work, this year’s carefully curated keynotes will inspire, educate and unite a sense of belonging.
I was personally blown away by Michael Barton’s account of ‘the autism advantage’ and his recognition that ‘society needs to appreciate neurological differences, rather than shun us for not being like the rest of the population… being different can be a powerful asset in employment’. Michael has the ability to instil a powerful internal narrative shift towards acknowledging, appreciating and celebrating the autistic traits and the benefits that they can reward organisations. When he got promoted they had to find three people to replace him!
In a different but equally moving way, Charlie Martin, the first transgender motorsport racer, inspired me to think about the power of possibility in my own life and the importance of role models to broaden our vision of who we can be and what we can achieve. She says “Growing up with a deeply engrained negative belief about yourself is not something I’d wish on anyone… a limited vision of who you can be and what you can achieve was something I accepted. Without any role models to tell me different, this is hardly surprising.”
For the first time, I heard something articulated that I have been conscious of but unable to put into language; ‘the paradox of inclusion’. Coach and consultant specialising in authenticity and inclusion, Holiday Phillips describes how conversations about diversity and inclusion lose their authenticity when they are mandated by “gatekeepers who tell us what we can do, say, think”. Her powerful keynote put forward the idea that we won’t be able to genuinely move forward until the barriers of defensiveness are gently, but permanently, removed.
It’s impossible to share in such brevity the impact that these stories had on me last week. I haven’t even mentioned Poorna Bell who spoke to her latest book ‘Stronger’ and the way our society’s views of women’s strength influences us from the schoolroom through to the boardroom, or how Nici Harrison talked about the need for a culture that normalises and welcomes grief because, in her words, ‘to be human is to know loss’.
The great news is that you don’t need to take my word for it; if your organisation would like to have access to these videos to share internally, on key international awareness days or as part of an CPD hours, training or internal events, you can become a summit partner and have full access to the content year round!
Get in touch to find out more.