Episode #160: Inclusive Leadership and Belonging with Jennifer Brown

Mike Sipple, Jr. is pleased to welcome Jennifer Brown to this week’s episode of the Talent Magnet Institute Podcast. Jennifer’s work in talent management and intersectional theory has helped make the corporate environment more inclusive. Her strategies have been used by some of the biggest companies around the world in order to help employees feel like they belong. Jennifer is a best-selling author, founder of Jennifer Brown Consulting, and the host of The Will To Change. In this episode, she and Mike talk about diversity, inclusion, allyship, and how to make the workplace a psychologically and emotionally safe environment for all employees.

• The year 2020 exposed the pain of racism, but we also gained knowledge and awareness from the experience. [04:46]
• Jennifer’s inclusiveness training doesn’t encourage shaming as she believes we don’t learn from shaming. [06:39]
• Leaders need to build relationships and establish trust in the workplace. Create psychological safety so that employees from marginalized communities are able to speak up about their experiences. [12:27]
• Jennifer stresses that we need to be invested in understanding experiences different to ours and actively doing the work to learn more. [14:20]
• Psychological safety is about belonging. Employees who feel they belong feel comfortable, that they can be themselves, and as such, they can collaborate effectively and cohesively. [18:00]
• As a leader, always strive to do a continuously better job at diversity. Don’t assume that you have everything under control. [22:54]
• We need to be better allies, but we also need allies ourselves. We need people who will stand in solidarity with us and speak up for us especially in this virtual world. [32:31]
• If you have privilege in any way, you should be using that privilege to help those around you who are disenfranchised. Endeavor to do what you can to help them get fair treatment. [40:54]
• Disengaged employees ultimately impact company profitability as disengagement usually equals lack of creativity, innovation, growth, and motivation. Jennifer suggests that this is another reason companies should care how their employees are treated.  [43:52]

Resources

Jennifer Brown | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram

Jennifer Brown Consulting | DEI | Inclusive Leader Self-Assessment

How To Be An Inclusive Leader

Inclusion: Diversity, The New WorkPlace & The Will To Change

The WIll To Change