I recently started facilitating conversations between a senior leadership team and a mix of management and frontline workers. The topic: barriers that exist for racialized and marginalized workers and ways forward. These conversations were the start of a much larger change: on a systems and cultural level.
There was a breakthrough during one of the sessions as one executive member seemed shocked and overwhelmed and explicitly stated, “I had no idea…” He was at a loss for words after hearing some of the lived experiences.
Uncomfortable? Absolutely – which is why a lot of organizations do not do this work! DE&I surfaces in a lot of my work – even and especially in strategic planning as organizations try to embed inclusive practices in their structures and systems.
This Friday’s gratitude is for this book; what an incredibly useful resource!
In ‘The Conversation’, Robert Livingston brilliantly shares his knowledge and experience working with non-profit and fortune 500 companies and how he has helped them move from preformative allyship towards truly immersive, inclusive, intersectional and diversity focused practices. 🙏🏾💕
More reasons you should pick up this book:
✊🏾 The book is divided into 3 main sections: Condition (Do I understand what the problem is and where it comes from?), Concern (Do I care enough about the problem and the people it harms?) and Correction (Do I know how to correct the problem and am I willing to do it?).
✊🏾 Founded on principles of psychology, sociology, management, and behavioural economics, the book provides relevant examples, with data and scientific studies to back it up.
✊🏾Given that the book was published in 2021, the examples include a lot of recent scenarios that a lot of us have lived through or heard of. The sections flow really well, includes a lot of theory but the content is easy to follow and understand.
I encourage you to pick up The Conversation if you are looking to find ways to analyze your current practice and develop action steps in systemic, structural and meaningful ways.
This book is highly recommended to all professionals working with racialized and marginalized people and to every human being and global citizen!
It all starts with a Conversation.
