Anniversaries, birthdays, and new beginnings are favorite moments of mine. My zeal for them has prompted me to depart slightly from our corporate culture series to acknowledge a few.

A year ago I began delving into what is now the anniversary of the ISO 30415:2021 Standard for Diversity and Inclusion released last year. This new global development also marks my own involvement in learning how I can apply this global standard to the companies and people with whom I work.

This month marks a new beginning as we roll out the EQUITY FORM MASTERCLASS. In the coming months, you will learn more about this program that answers the question, how do we tackle systemic racism in organizational structure? For the past four months, I have focused my attention on developing the concept and attending to the most interested audience with whom to launch it.

Lastly, I end the month of April celebrating the dual 95th birthdays of two of the most significant women in my life. One of my six living aunts and one of my family’s dearest friends. Woohoo! These two women hold an important place in my life both personally and professionally.

Their influence is instrumental in how I think, what I talk about and what is important for me to do in serving women in leadership. These women represent the corporate and educational worlds in which I spend much of my professional time. So this month, intersectionality seemed a necessary focus as it applies to better acknowledging and grounding the difference among us all and why those differences matter.

Wishing you a happy May!

In 1989, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, a professor at Columbia and UCLA and a leading scholar of Critical Race Theory, coined the term Intersectionality to acknowledge an individual’s unique experiences with discrimination and oppression. Intersectionality can apply to a multitude of factors. The apparent forms are gender, sexuality, race, and class. We should also include weight, physical appearance, disabilities (visible and invisible), and religion. What used to be differences based on one factor has evolved into differences based on many.

We often look at someone and define them by our preconceptions. When a person attends a high-end university, we might assume that they are privileged. We jump to conclusions regardless of the truth. Many of us are quick to judge, and Intersectionality reminds us that we should take a step back. Everything we say or do has an effect. We must take care the best we can to avoid marginalizing people, whether it is intentional or not.

Let’s start with Intersectionality at an individual level. Let’s say that employees at Company X take a required diversity training and understand on the surface that specific ways of speaking can be interpreted in different ways. Employees A and B are working together, and they are from entirely different backgrounds. To accomplish the task at hand, both employees need to be conscious of the information gained in their training and use that to communicate and work together.

At a corporate level, diversity and inclusion beliefs and practices can affect employee productivity and how the company is perceived by its customers. Lately, there have been several situations where a company has taken a stand on an issue, and it has polarized the population.

Here are some examples. Many companies have ceased doing business with Russia due to the conflict with Ukraine. This can alienate those of Russian descent, whether they agree with Russia’s actions. Many companies require their customers to get a vaccine. This can alienate those who have religious exemptions or have a medical condition that prevents them from complying.

Let’s get a little more specific. When a company recognizes Black Lives Matter, some workers and customers feel heard, and some are alienated. It can often seem a very fine line. Some agree and continue doing business with the company. Some disagree and search for other alternatives. We see the consequences of corporate action in the news.

A few years back, I worked within the financial services industry-leading a Diversity & Inclusion workshop. The client questioned the level of diversity one of their vendors had and asked me my opinion. I felt it was the responsibility of my client to address this with the vendor. I went on to explain that in the event the lack of diverse leadership and team demonstrates an insensitivity in the workplace for inclusion, this could turn out to be a liability for my client. My point of view was that my client owes it to their organization and their channel partners to take action and say something.

Let’s dial it in a little and focus on internal policies within a company. When companies do not address issues of discrimination head-on, it results in a toxic culture. This can lead to workers, loss of productivity, absenteeism, health issues, and lawsuits. At the very least, companies should follow the law. Their practices should nurture employees, build relationships, and create a sense of caring.

Whether or not your company mandates training or behavior, here are some things you can do to address D&I in any interaction:

• When someone attacks your dignity, speaking up begins the process of developing awareness in the perpetrator that their actions must change.
• Anytime a person or process limits your access to fair treatment or equal opportunity, remaining quiet sends the message that it’s okay to continue business as usual with no repercussions about which to be concerned.
• When a sexist remark is made, an antisemitic indiscretion is delivered, or a sexual advance is offered to another, a counteraction becomes necessary to be followed up with an official complaint to right the wrong.
• When a person is routinely interrupted while speaking in a meeting or during a presentation, the culprit must be called out for rude and disrespectful behavior.

Listening to how they identify is essential when meeting people for the first time. If you are unsure, ask. If you get called out for using the wrong pronouns, use the right ones the next time. These are signs of respect and understanding. Something we from time to time stumbles through until we get it “right.” I faced such a time myself not long ago when I was introduced to a trans person. That was all the description I received along with the name Alex when I showed up for our first meeting. It turned out to be a wonderful connection and I was excited about the prospects of what we might do in partnership to address bias as a learning opportunity for our respective audiences.

When I began to share about the meeting with a friend later that evening, I made the unfortunate choice to reference Alex as “she.” At first, my friend drew this to my attention. I was initially surprised because it was unlike me to make such an obvious error. As my conversation continued with my friend in reference to the earlier meeting, I did it again. I referenced Alex as “she.” My next correction came rather sternly and unexpectedly, somewhat hostile. I got that I was speaking incorrectly and again attempted to adjust. It felt as though I was tripping over my own shoelace. My friend was relentless. Then I asked, “what do you believe might be the reason I may be having trouble addressing Alex appropriately?” The response I got was rather challenging, “you don’t care.”

That was hardly the reality as I saw it. Yet, I noticed how annoyed my friend became with me. Then he shared the example of one of his colleagues granting him permission to use the women’s restroom rather than the men’s room citing he was considered, “one of the girls.” The reference sent annoyed shivers down my spine and with that, I got it. I had to do much better quickly. What I learned is that we can be thoughtless in this fast-paced world. It is to our benefit to slow down and be present before we misspeak. That became a wake-up call to me for how important it is to get it “right” when it comes to being inclusive to people unlike ourselves.

As a group manager, concentrate on each person’s individual goals and progress. Each person is on their own journey in the workforce, and standard metrics may not fit. Employees need to feel free to grow and develop their skills. This can result in innovation and countless benefits to the organization.