Voices Worth Listening To

The stories in this episode are raw and unfiltered and help answer three key questions: (1) How should organizations think about privilege-related diversity when it comes to recruiting and promoting people? (2) What questions will allow them to determine if privilege or lack there of has shaped a candidate positively? and most fundamentally, (3) Why should organizations care about privilege as an important source of diversity - are there benefits of having privilege related diversity among your key decision makers?

Being treated differently because you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community is a real issue, and it’s alive and well in many, if not most organizations. This is confirmed in the dozens of conversations I’ve had with gay men and women about their professional experiences at work. But it’s also backed up with quantitative and qualitative data. For example, 15 to 45 percent of LGBTQ people suffer some form of discrimination on the job. 10 to 20 percent have been passed over for a job or been fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. And 10 to 30 percent receive negative performance evaluations because they are gay. Still, today, LGBTQ+ clubs are not recognized by some universities. When faced with lawsuits, companies claim discrimination based on sexual orientation is not discrimination. And in terms of LGBTQ+ representation in leadership teams, it’s dismal. The sad reality is that most leaders in organizations today don’t understand why gay men and gay women – specifically – bring unique value to their organizations. This podcast answers three key questions: Why should your organization want to hire and retain gay men and women? Why is their presence paramount to performance? And What can organizational leaders do to create a more inclusive context for members of the LGBTQ+ community?

The world around us seems to be increasingly defined by hate. The Russians and the Ukrainians, the Palestinians and the Israelis, the Chinese and the Uyghur Muslims, India’s war on Islam, the US and women’s rights, Florida and the LGBTQ+ community. Each one of these geopolitical crises is a war on diversity where minority populations are in a “fight to exist.” They are fighting against leaders working to eliminate minority voices. These leaders invoke preservation as their key narrative. They believe silencing minority voices is fundamental to ensuring a bright future. This episode will explore the preservation narrative, one of the largest challenges faced by minority populations globally. Moreover, preservation is also very common in the history of most organizations that struggle today to create strong representation in their management teams. This podcast not only explores the preservation narrative but also shares how leaders can fight the dangers of preservation.

When we think about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), our mind often goes to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and those that are differently-abled. But do these differences represent the full landscape of DEI? What topics do we still avoid? The one I broach in this episode of VOICES WORTH LISTENING TO is weight stigma. It may surprise you to learn that overweight people regularly suffer discrimination in the form of assumptions that they are lazy, less competent and less qualified. Do these assumptions lead to fewer professional opportunities? Yes. Surprised? What if you learned that a survey of top executive coaches would reveal that they have never encountered a Fortune 500 CEO who is obese. What if I said to you that overweight employees at all levels not only receive fewer professional opportunities but, on average, less compensation than their ‘normal sized’ counterparts? Does this surprise you? It shouldn’t. Weight stigma is one of the last acceptable forms of discrimination. This episode attempts to answer two questions: Do overweight working professionals experience discrimination in the workplace? And What can organizational leaders do to put a check on this kind of discrimination?

This episode of VOICES WORTH LISTENING TO is the second of a two-part series that answers the following question: How can organizations do a better job of recognizing talented women of color and promoting them into decision making and leadership roles? It is important to realize that talent doesn’t get promoted or retained just because it gets recognized. Part 2 focuses on this reality. We explore stories about the challenges faced by 4 high-performing Women of Color. These stories help us explore what needs to be in place at your organization to ensure more equitable and merit-based systems for advancement. Two concurrent systems must exist to successfully promote, cultivate, and retain Women of Color in senior positions in any organization. First, a support system that includes (1) mentorship to understand the hidden rules of the game; (2) support to navigate sticky situations that impede performance, and (3) advocacy from colleagues willing to go to bat in the face of unreasonable behaviours, comments, and accusations. Second, an accountability system around promotions, where managers at all levels must formally justify to those they report to why they chose not to promote diverse candidates when given the opportunity. Without this level of accountability, egregious behaviour where women are simply passed over or replaced and then silenced with generous severance packages will continue to be part of your organization’s legacy.