Posts tagged #transparency
Transparency matters
Transparency matters

Last week we talked about how feedback may be painful but is critical for equity and inclusion. To follow up on that conversation, it also feels important to say that transparency matters.

I often like to say that the only thing worse than not gathering feedback is gathering feedback and then not sharing the results.

Seriously. The distrust and loss of morale that can be caused by this is not to be underestimated.

And I can’t tell you the number of times we hear from staff that this has happened when we start working with organizations.

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Inclusive LeadershipAlethea Fitzpatrick#feedback, #transparency, #characteristicsofwhitesupremacyculture, #workplace, #inclusiveworkplace, #equity
Feedback may be painful but it is critical for equity and inclusion
Feedback may be painful but it is critical for equity and inclusion

When I first started doing DEI consulting, I have to say I didn’t expect that so much of what we do would be about opening up spaces so our clients can gather feedback from across their staff.

However, it has proven to be one of the most valuable aspects of our work.

What we’ve realized is that we are hired to uncover the truths that may be painful for organizations to hear but that have the potential to be transformative if only they are open to it.

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Inclusive LeadershipAlethea Fitzpatrick#workplace, #characteristicsofwhitesupremacyculture, #feedback, #inclusiveleadership, #inclusiveworkplace, #inclusion, #traumainformed, #transparency
Inclusion isn't just about being nice to people
Inclusion isn't just about being nice to people

I've come to see that paternalism is my own personal kryptonite. I can't stand people thinking they know better than me what is best for me - and not just thinking it, but assuming and acting on it.

The truth is that I've experienced paternalism my entire life. It's everywhere - it's in the air we breath, and we're all, to varying degrees, socialized into it.

It's also pretty much a founding principle for most of our non-profit and mission driven corporate clients.

The thing that we find that organizations and their leaders don't understand though is that paternalism hurts them too.

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Co-creating inclusionAlethea Fitzpatrick#paternalism, #transparency, #inclusiveleadership, #feedback, #characteristicsofwhitesupremacyculture
Equity without inclusion is still oppression
Equity without inclusion is still oppression

One of the things we've seen at some of our client organizations as well as the communities we are part of, well-intentioned progress towards making decisions that are grounded in equity fall short when there is a continued reliance on top-down hierarchies, paternalism and lack of transparency that still doesn't include those most impacted.

What often ends up happening is that you end up with even more people not feeling heard.

Those who are aligned with power and privilege feel confused and threatened because a different kind of decision making is taking place that doesn't center them, but has not been explained - this often weaponizes equity as the reason no one gets what they need.

And those whose needs are supposedly being prioritized don't experience it that way either, because they weren't given a voice in the process, and they have no reason to trust that their needs are being considered at all.

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Co-creating inclusionAlethea Fitzpatrick#inclusion, #DEIinapandemic, #DEIstrategicplanning, #equity, #transparency, #DEIvision