Not all Diversities are External – Looking Deeper Inside for Inclusivity

Quite often when one thinks of diversity and inclusion they think of color, race, gender and disabilities.  What so many people fail to recognize is that diversity has many layers, some which remain unseen.  In fact, a person can fit into many categories.

In my early twenties this is how I would have been described: female, single mother, college dropout, welfare recipient, Puerto Rican, Chinese, and no religious affiliation.  Aside from my physical appearance, there were many that remained unseen.

Now that I am well into my 40’s, many of those categories have changed, aside from me being female and my nationality, different boxes in my life have been checked and unchecked.

So why do I mention this?  Why is it important to recognize there are many more facets of diversity?  There are political beliefs, religious beliefs, family backgrounds, traditions, sexual orientation, education, finances, and more that make us diverse.  I bring this up because to have a diverse and inclusive environment is not necessarily easy and cannot be obtained overnight.  In fact, it takes constant awareness, asking questions, perspective training, listening and more importantly skills of empathy to reach a level of success.

Biases exist and they always will.  I have heard countless times friends judging others for having a child out of wedlock.  Clearly they forgot I was one with my firstborn.  People judge based on where you received your education.  I went from college dropout (to have my son) to graduating from New York University for my undergraduate degree and Rowan University with Honors for my graduate degree.  They judge you on how you dress.  I enjoy dressing in pinks and skirts and was chastised for it in a Women’s Study course I took at NYU for conforming to what “men” wanted.  Yes, that really happened!  Put simply, biases exist and none of us are immune to it.

Truthfully, some people have more biases against them than others.  To build a collaborative environment, we need to find ways to inspire and be open to the unknown.  We need to hold accountability for our own lives and learn to live with an abundant mindset as opposed to a limited mindset.  We need to take the time to face our fears, establish communication with our neighbors, and learn to ask questions and to listen to understand.

Diversity and Inclusion seem to be the hot topic now as businesses worldwide are adding diversity and inclusion departments in their workforce as if to stick a band-aid on some very serious issues.  Remember the blackface Gucci sweater (Google it if you don’t know what I am referring to).  How not one person in all of Gucci’s design and advertising team did not notice that the sweater may be offensive to an entire race is beyond me.  Did they take the time to get different viewpoints?  Perhaps someone did notice, but felt uncomfortable to voice his opinions. And now other design houses such as Prada and Chanel have jumped on board with the diversity and inclusion awareness.  Prada had their own fashion oops as well.

When I attended Advertising Week in NYC last year, just about every meeting I attended discussed their diversity and inclusion approach.  Companies such as Microsoft and Coca-Cola had some great progress and plans in action.  Does that make me feel hopeful?  Absolutely!

If businesses took the time to look deeper within themselves as individuals and learn to become more aware of their surroundings, then steps towards an inclusive environment can be made.  Most of our biases are embedded within our subconscious and we must learn how to make a conscious effort to learn to understand one another, appreciate each other’s talents and input and help one another build.  Most importantly, we need to help let the voices of those who are not necessarily “like us” be heard!

That single mother or father may have many ideas on how to be more efficient in the workplace.  The once welfare recipient may have ideas on how to become more financially abundant.  The college dropout may have more knowledge and wisdom than the Ivy League grad by studying on their own through free online courses.

We must not shut anyone out because they look, think, feel, live differently than us.  We all have some unique quality that we can contribute.  For businesses this means more innovation, collaboration, less turnover and increased revenue.  For society it means more peace and personal growth.

Let us not be consumed with only working in an environment that suits are own biases, for when we expand our mindsets, abundancy follows!

For together we are stronger!

Much love,

Inez xo