Shirley Davis, PhD, is a seasoned HR and Diversity & Inclusion thought leader, a certified leadership coach, and veteran executive. She has been featured on NBC’s Today, USA Today, National Public Radio, the Wall Street Journal, Essence magazine, Fast Company, the Washington Post, and more.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 4

Icons Used in This Book 4

Beyond the Book 5

Where to Go from Here 5

Part 1: Getting Started with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 7

Chapter 1: Understanding the Fundamentals of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 9

Re-Shifting the Focus to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work 10

Understanding the History of Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace 12

Defining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 15

Diversity 15

Multiple dimensions of diversity 16

Equity 17

Inclusion 19

Diversity, equity, and inclusion 19

Breaking Down Other Key DEI-Related Terms 20

Ability and disabilities 20

Belonging 21

BIPOC 21

Implicit bias 22

Intersectionality 23

Isms and phobias 23

LGBTQIA+ 24

Microaggressions 25

Neurodiversity 26

Prejudice and stereotypes 26

Privilege and power 27

Getting Started: Reflection Activity 28

Chapter 2: Exploring Key Demographic Trends that Are Redefining the Workplace 31

Increasingly Global 33

Increasingly Diverse 34

Generational diversity 34

Gender diversity 35

Racial and ethnic diversity 37

Increasingly More Flexible and Working More Virtually 39

A new way of thinking about work 39

The impact diversity, equity, and inclusion 40

Increasingly Digital 41

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on digitalization 41

Examining automation’s and artificial intelligence’s impact on talent and DEI 43

Increasingly Underskilled 44

Chapter 3: Cultivating Skills and Competencies for Leading Today’s Workers 47

Assessing Your DEI Leadership Effectiveness 48

Demonstrating emotional intelligence 48

Exhibiting authenticity and transparency 53

Building and maintaining trust 56

Leading change 57

Dealing with conflicts 61

Using diplomacy and tact 62

Applying an equity lens in decision making 63

Exercising cultural competence 64

Navigating workplace politics 66

Developing accountability as a leader 68

Promoting DEI as a Senior Executive/Board Member 70

Fostering DEI as a Middle Manager or Supervisor 71

Championing DEI as a Mentor or Sponsor 72

Mentorship 73

Sponsorship 73

Chapter 4: Making the Case for DEI 75

Recognizing DEI’s Impact on Organizational Success 76

Becoming an Employer of Choice 78

Leveraging Inclusion to Drive Innovation and Creativity 79

Enhancing the Safety, Health, and Wellness of Staff 81

Improving the Employee Experience and Encouraging Engagement 83

Creating a positive employee experience 83

Seeing increased engagement 84

Minimizing Employee Complaints and Lawsuits 85

Avoiding the Revolving Door and Turnover of Top Performers 86

Chapter 5: Hiring a Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer 87

Tracing the Rise of the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer’s Role 88

Knowing When It’s Time to Hire a CDEIO 89

Considering the Best Candidate for Your Organization 90

Positioning the Role at the Right Level 92

Part 2: Examining DEI in the Workplace 95

Chapter 6: Assessing Your Organization’s Culture 97

Exploring What Culture Is 98

Using Benchmarks and Other Industry Standards 99

Conducting Document Reviews of Policies, Processes, and Strategies 101

Conducting Leadership Assessments 104

Conducting a Staff Inclusion and Engagement Survey 105

Conducting Employee Focus Groups 106

Chapter 7: Exposing Common Organizational Barriers to DEI 107

Looking for the Culture Fit 108

Resisting the Value and Need for DEI 109

Handling resistance 109

Overcoming fear 110

Perpetuating Microaggressions, Stereotypes, and Prejudices 112

Taking a closer look at microaggressions 112

Sniffing out stereotypes and prejudices 113

Overlooking Hidden Figures Who Are Overperforming but Undervalued 114

Minimizing the experiences and contributions of underrepresented talent 115

Relying on favorites and go-tos 116

Silencing and Ignoring Employee Complaints 117

Chapter 8: Positioning DEI as an Organization’s Strategic Priority 119

Embedding DEI into the Organization’s Mission, Vision, and Values 120

Creating a DEI Plan 122

Starting with a vision for the future 123

Taking the steps to make it happen 124

Communicating the DEI Plan across the organization 127

Involving leadership 128

Making it relevant 128

Keeping the Plan Alive 129

Part 3: Implementing and Operationalizing DEI Across the Organization 131

Chapter 9: Finding and Recruiting Diverse Talent 133

Reviewing Your Recruitment Strategy 134

Shoring up your short-term recruitment strategy 134

Looking at recruitment with an eye on long-term goals 135

Boosting your diversity recruitment strategy 136

Casting a Wider Net to Build a Diverse Pipeline 137

Building relationships and networking 137

Communicating your commitment to DEI 139

Writing More Inclusive Job Descriptions 140

Minimizing Bias in the Selection Process 141

Recognizing that everyone has biases 141

Replacing gender-coded words with gender-neutral ones 143

Reducing racial bias 143

Curtailing bias against older workers 144

Diminishing bias against disabled (differently-abled) workers 144

Lessening bias against religious beliefs/spirituality/faith 145

Assembling a Diverse Interview Panel 145

Avoiding Illegal and Inappropriate Questions 146

Chapter 10: Developing, Coaching, Promoting, and Retaining Diverse Talent 149

Developing Diverse Talent 150

Coaching Diverse Talent 151

Assessing Your Team’s Needs 153

Understanding the best ways to get your team’s input 153

Mentoring across differences 155

Customizing your leadership style to your team’s diverse needs and talents 155

Reviewing Performance with an Equitable and Inclusive Mindset 157

Combating microaggressions and bias 158

Providing feedback through an equitable lens 159

Applying Retention Strategies That Work 160

Chapter 11: Leading Diverse Teams for Maximum Performance 163

Assembling a Diverse Team 164

Maximizing the Benefits of a Diverse Team 166

Creating opportunities for people to get to know each other 166

Embracing communication style differences 167

Making your meetings no-judgment zones 167

Focusing on the increase in market share

and serving more diverse customers 168

Addressing unconscious cultural bias 168

Inviting Diversity of Thought to the Table 169

Scrutinizing the myth about diversity of thought 169

Uncovering the truth about diversity of thought 170

Mining diversity of thought at the table 170

Facilitating Relationship-Building and Cultivating Trust and Belonging 171

Building relationships 171

Building trust 172

Avoiding the Common Pitfalls of Leading a Diverse Team 173

Chapter 12: Tracking, Measuring, and Reporting the Progress of DEI Efforts 175

Measuring What Matters 176

Understanding what makes a metric good 176

Considering common areas to measure 176

Avoiding common metrics mistakes 178

Identifying the Problems with Tracking DEI 178

Developing a DEI Scorecard 179

Reporting the Data to Key Leaders 182

Putting it all together 182

Making sure leaders use the data presented 183

Chapter 13: Embedding DEI in Other Key Areas of the Organization 185

Incorporating DEI Messaging into Marketing and Branding Initiatives 185

Practicing inclusive marketing 187

Avoiding cultural appropriation and other missteps 188

Integrating DEI into Company Communications and Messaging 189

Connecting DEI to Environmental Social Governance and Corporate Responsibility 190

Surveying Supplier Diversity Programs 192

Understanding the benefits of supplier diversity programs 193

Establishing and nurturing relationships with diverse vendors and suppliers 195

Exploring best practices for supplier diversity programs 196

Measuring the success of a supplier diversity program 198

Chapter 14: Launching DEI Councils and Employee Resource Groups 201

Differentiating Between DEI Councils and Employee Resource Groups 202

Understanding how diversity councils can support ERGs 203

Looking at what diversity councils and ERGs can accomplish together 204

Drilling down into the importance of ERGs 204

Ensuring Engagement from the Top: The Importance of the Executive Sponsor 205

Establishing an Effective DEI Council 207

Knowing your company and finding a champion 207

Establishing your mission, vision, and strategic areas of focus 208

Setting goals and establishing roles and responsibilities 209

Recruiting and securing DEI council members 210

Developing a DEI council charter 210

Offering Employee Resource Groups to Support DEI Initiatives 211

Realizing the benefits of the ERGs for employees and the organization 213

Identifying the various types of employee resource groups 213

Deciding when to launch ERGs and which to launch first 214

Recruiting ERG members and executive sponsors 215

Establishing an ERG charter and measures of success 215

Part 4: Sustaining DEI in Your Organization 217

Chapter 15: Understanding Implicit Bias and Its Impact in the Workplace 219

An Important Word on Bias 221

Tracing the Origins of Biases and How They’re Reinforced 221

Identifying Ways Biases Show Up in Everyday Life 223

Distinguishing among the Various Biases 224

Describing the Ways Biases Affect Decision Making in the Workplace 227

Reprogramming Your Brain to Make Less Biased Decisions 229

Mitigating bias as an individual 229

Managing bias within a system 232

Chapter 16: Moving from Unconscious Bias to Inclusive Leadership 235

Realizing the Benefits of Becoming an Inclusive Leader 236

Driving financial performance 237

Enhancing employer brand that attracts top talent 237

Increasing employee engagement, satisfaction, and team performance 238

Achieving greater innovation in products and services 240

Honing the Competencies and Key Traits of an Inclusive Leader 241

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Ineffective Leadership 243

Being Inclusive Everyday: Microbehaviors Leaders Often Overlook 244

Chapter 17: Enhancing Cultural Competence 247

Understanding What Cultural Competence Is (And What It Isn’t) 249

Self-awareness 249

Knowledge of other cultures 250

The ability to adapt 250

What cultural competence isn’t 251

Distinguishing between Cultural Humility and Cultural Intelligence 252

Considering cultural humility 252

Investigating cultural intelligence 253

Knowing How Cultures Differ: Seven Dimensions of Culture 255

Universalism versus particularism 256

Individualism versus communitarianism 256

Neutral versus emotional 256

Specific versus diffuse.257

Achievement versus ascription 257

Sequential time versus synchronic time 258

Internal direction versus external direction 258

Mapping Your Own Cultural Orientation 258

Assessing Your Cultural Competence — Tools You Can Use 260

Employing the Most Important Attributes of Cultural Competence 262

Chapter 18: Cultivating a Culture of Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging 263

Understanding Company Culture and How It’s Established 264

Realizing every company has a culture 265

Understanding that company culture is an open culture 266

Defining the beliefs that drive behavior 267

Introducing the Culture Spectrum 270

The left side of the spectrum 272

The right side of the spectrum 275

Exploring the Characteristics and Implications of Toxic Workplaces 277

Implementing a Sustainable Culture Transformation 280

Setting the stage for change 280

Mission, vision, and values 282

Policies and formal processes 282

Informal processes 283

Employee behavior 284

Assessing progress and creating the next strategy 285

Measuring the Impact of a Culture of Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging 286

Part 5: The Part of Tens 289

Chapter 19: Ten Common Myths about Diversity and Inclusion 291

When We Check This Box, We Can Move on to Other Priorities 291

Isn’t Focusing on Diversity Just Reverse Discrimination? 292

DEI Work Has No Place for Straight, White Men 292

“Diversity” Is Just Code for “Race 293

What We’re Really After Is Diversity of Thought 293

I Support Diversity; I Just Don’t Want to Lower Our Standards 294

If We Can Achieve Diversity, Inclusion Will Follow 294

All Bias Is Bad 295

Succeeding as a DEI Practitioner Will Put Me out of a Job 295

Is All This DEI Work Really Necessary When People Seem Happy Here? 295

Chapter 20: Ten Ways That Boards Can Influence DEI in the Organization 297

Develop a DEI Statement and Center It in Your Business Strategy 298

Commit to Diversifying Your Board 298

Cultivate a Culture of Inclusion on Your Board 299

Establish Clear Board Roles and Responsibilities 299

Ensure Your Board Chair and CEO Are DEI Champions 300

Provide Education on DEI-Related Topics 300

Embrace an Equity Mindset 301

Accept Responsibility 301

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable 302

Measure Your Success 302

Chapter 21: Ten Things Underrepresented Talent Wish Leaders Knew.303

Everyone Has Different Needs in the Workplace 304

Representation Equals Diversity, Equity, AND Inclusion 305

Intent Doesn’t Equal Impact 306

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Are More Than Just “Race” 306

Don’t Tokenize Me Because I’m the Only One 307

Do Your Own Work; Walk the Talk 307

Stop with the Overly Complimentary Language 308

Don’t Interpret Silence as Consent or Agreement 309

Ask for My Perspective and Input Even Though I’m Different from You 310

Your Staff Is Watching You 310

Index 311

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