Establish & Activate Your Belonging Vision
Does your organization have a long-term DEI vision? This long-term vision is one that can be developed using the Imagine Belonging transformation formula. Transformation = clarity to challenge the status quo + confidence to imagine a better culture + commitment to building a belonging culture. Yet, one of the primary reasons why an organization’s DEI goals stall out, or outright fail, is the lack of this long-term vision.
This reality begs the question, how can your workplace establish a long-term DEI vision that will lead toward a culture where you and your colleagues can not only survive, but thrive? This blog post offers three concrete strategies to help your organization answer this critical question, and activate a long-term DEI vision. These strategies include:
Embrace an adaptable attitude.
Reframe roadblocks as opportunities.
Build up the stamina to keep going.
1. Embrace an Adaptable Attitude
It’s important to remember that a long-term DEI vision will significantly evolve over time. Part of the beauty of building a belonging culture is that we often have to test-and-change a wide-variety of different approaches to realize our vision for the future. Testing-and-changing is required when we experience a challenge to our original vision, or some form of failure. Perhaps your organization failed to diversify its leadership pipelines in a meaningful way that fully reflects the diversity that exists on the frontlines and throughout middle management. Experiencing this kind of failure isn’t necessarily a set-back.
In fact, learning from this kind of failure can often result in a quicker pathways to success. Forbes Councils Member, Ivan Fioravanti (2021) affirms this truth when writing that failures provide “critical feedback necessary to drive innovation.” He goes on to say, “perfection has always been the enemy of progress.” For many business executives, we recognize the importance of being adaptable, learning from our failures, and receiving feedback to do better the next time an opportunity presents itself. This business wisdom also holds true as we establish and activate our long-term DEI visions.
As we develop, activate, and adapt our vision, it’s important to consider U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower wisdom. He recognized while plans will often change overtime, the planning process itself offers immense value. It helps with appreciating different perspectives as the group clarifies its shared vision. He also encouraged others to resist the temptation of being so attached to the plan that you fail to recognize the overarching shared vision that will continue to be influenced by those on your team. The planning process helps your team intentionally name what success will look like on a full sensory level, and appropriately allocate resources to realize your vision. The process is just as important as the outcome.
Adapting to the inevitable challenges that arise as you activate your long-term DEI vision proves that you are engaged and doing the work to realize it. Belonging at Work Summit speakers Rohit Bhargava notes that advancing your “DEI [goals] is a marathon, not a sprint,” and Jennifer Brown underscores, “If you change too quickly, that change will not be lasting.” Real change work in large organizations truly is a journey that many start, yet only those who make a long-term commitment reach the finish line. Earning your executive leadership team’s long-term commitment can help with securing essential resources, inspiring participation across the employee base, and modeling behaviors that promote a belonging culture.
2. Reframe Roadblocks as Opportunities
As you move in the direction of your long-term DEI vision, expect roadblocks, but don’t be discouraged by them. Rather, consider reframing them as opportunities where you can test-and-change different strategies, programs, and system changes that will strengthen your overall approach as you dial-in your long-term DEI vision. Clarifying your long-term vision will support the work you and your colleagues are leading, and will help you build more safety, trust, and belonging at work.
A common roadblock many of us have encountered when leading this work is making a mistake. In work environments where we experience a strong sense of psychological safety, we are more likely to admit to a mistake we have made, discuss them with our colleagues, and work through them without fear of negative consequences (i.e., missing out on a stretch assignment, promotion, or even fear of losing your job). Consider if your workplace culture offers this level of safety - if it does, you are better positioned to identify existing opportunities available when you openly discuss your mistakes and actively work through them.
As Belonging at Work Summit speaker, Pamela J. Green says, “People appreciate transparency. They don’t expect you to be perfect. They just expect you to acknowledge that we’ve got some work to do and that you’re going to do it.” When can advance our DEI goals and realize our long-term vision by being transparent with both our successes and failures, and importantly, what we are learning from working through our mistakes or our failures. Remembers, transforming your workplace culture is a complex process, and you’ll need the support, guidance, and perspectives from many colleagues throughout your organization. You can open up the lines of communication more effectively when you demonstrate your commitment to being transparent and accountable when things go sideways, which helps build trust and opens up more candid dialogue.
3. Build Up the Stamina to Keep Going
While initially establishing your long-term DEI vision can take less than three months, activating it can take decades before you experience consistent indicators of success. As you get started with establishing your vision, energy and enthusiasm is at its highest. People are ready to establish an action plan that includes clarifying your vision, naming what a belonging culture feels like for you on a full sensory level, and then defining how your workplace will realize this vision. Yet, how do you maintain the stamina to keep going when you’re deeper into implementing your action plan? How do you keep going when a mistake or failure arises? The following three strategies can help you finish this marathon:
Invite In Fellow Belonging Champions. Belonging at Work Summit speaker Pam Green points out that “if you involve your employees in the process and not just in the outcome, they will help hold you accountable, and they will be a part of making the solution a reality.” It’s important that all members of the team hold themselves and others accountable for activating your organization’s long-term DEI vision. After all, each of your colleagues brings their own lived experiences, adding to and influencing the culture. If they recognize this reality, they often are more likely to support this positive culture transformation.
Refine Your Commitment. Over time, the energy around activating your long-term DEI vision will likely ebb-and-flow. During those times where you sense diminished energy, it’s important to find ways to build up the momentum once again. Success here all depends on your knowledge of what inspires and motivates your colleagues. Perhaps it’s actively participating in an inspirational DEI event, connecting with other inclusive leaders and DEI champions, or receiving coaching from an external DEI strategist on an occasional or on-going basis. Using these opportunities to refine your commitment will help advance your DEI goals, and activate your long-term vision.
Remember Your WHY. Why did you initially set out on this marathon to transform your workplace culture? Are you committed to transferring inclusive leadership behaviors to ensure that your entire workforce can thrive on the job? Do you desire to liberate more connection, creativity, and innovation within different departments? Are you ready to harness the many different people, experiences, and perspectives as you reshape how power and decision-making authority are structured? As you remember your initial “why,” write it down, and reread it when you need an added dose of inspiration to keep going.
If you desire to establish and activate your organization’s long-term DEI vision that will build more safety, trust, and belonging at work, please register for our 4th Annual Belonging at Work Summit, July 11 – 15. It’s our biggest FREE and virtual event of the year! There you will have the opportunity to build an indestructible learning community with fellow inclusive leaders, DEI professionals, and visionaries ready to learn from some of today’s most celebrated DEI and social justice thought leaders. Leaders like Jennifer Brown, Pam Green, and Rohit Bhargava who will offer powerful insights to help you imagine and activate your bold vision for belonging at work.
References
Ely, R. & Thomas, D. 2020. Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case. In Harvard Business Review, November-December 2020. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/11/getting-serious-about-diversity-enough-already-with-the-business-case.
Fioravanti, I. 2021. Fail Fast, Succeed Faster. In Council Post, April 2, 2021. Forbes Technology Council. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/04/02/fail-fast-succeed-faster/?sh=6c4f33957a64.
Perry, R. 2022. Imagine Belonging: Your Inclusive Leadership Guide to Building an Equitable Workplace. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Rhodes-Perry/e/B07K8Z4SLG.
