[MUSIC] Hello and welcome to week two, discovering yourself as an inclusive leader. To begin, we're going to start with part one, thinking through what inclusive leadership looks like. And to bring back my friend to help me discuss all of these things, Bob Lewandowski, hey Bob. >> Thank you, this is going to be a great week. >> It is. >> All right, let's start with the first question, describe what you think inclusion should look like in the workplace. >> So there is a wonderful graphic that I've seen that says, diversity is the mix, inclusion is making the mix work. So we can have individuals from different backgrounds and identities around the table, but if they're not collaborating, then it's not working. So inclusion is making space and room for everyone to feel as though they're apart. That their contributions matter, that they feel seen, safe and known in the space. >> Great, yeah, so the next question goes into like an example, tell me about when you were excluded, what lesson did you learn? Tell me about a time when you excluded somebody else, and what lesson did you learn? So it's a two part back and forth, yeah. >> Right, so I always think back to childhood, I have been this tall since I was five years old, but it was mostly uncoordinated. And so the first time that we picked teams in recess, I was not picked and I was picked last and it hurt. Because they didn't understand while I may not have good aim, I was very fast, and so I could run the bases very quickly. I could move and groove, but because they didn't think think I could do it, it felt very painful. And then when I was thinking about opportunities or times when I excluded someone. It was often when picking groups in study groups or small groups for presentations in classes. And so you recognize who's the brightest kids and who aren't the brighter kids, and so you kind of want to set up your team for success. And so sometimes, I didn't pick someone who may not have been as academically as successful as I would have liked. And I felt badly about it because it took me back to the times when I wasn't picked. And how I made someone feel the way I felt and I didn't like it. >> And we've all felt that right, we've all gone through that. But there's an intentional choice to pick somebody or exclude somebody and an unintentional. >> [LAUGH] Absolutely. >> And when I've been called out on this is like, wow, I didn't even mean to do that, can you speak more about that? >> Sometimes when we're building teams, we unintentionally will pick our friends or people that we have common interest with. And not recognize that that may exclude someone who has a perspective or an insight that's different from ours. So if we only pick the people that we know, we know them, their faults and their opportunities for success. But if you pick an unknown quantity, you don't know what you don't know. And so you'll often miss out on an opportunity to have someone who has a great insight or a great idea. Which you don't pick them because you want to go with your friends. >> Right, the birds of a feather flock together. >> Flock together, absolutely. >> Yeah, you're absolutely right, if you pick all the people that are like you, think like you, [INAUDIBLE]. >> Absolutely, there's an old quote that says, if you're the smartest person in the room, then you need a different room. So if you know everyone who's in the room and you know that you're smarter than them, it might be a good idea to expand. That can be scary because that could be an opportunity to give up some power, but at the same time, what will you gain by doing that? >> Right, because you need people above you that are going to help you. >> Exactly, you need people who will stretch you and we'll see your blind spots because we all have them. And so making sure that you have someone on your team who picks up the gap in the spaces that you are falling. >> Right, right, all right, let's go into question three, as a leader, how have you engaged in inclusive practices. >> So when I've built a team, I've looked at my own skill set, what I'm really good at and what are my identities and then thought about, who else was missing? So I wanted someone of a different gender, I wanted someone of a different racial ethnic background. I wanted someone of a different age, because that brings different insights and different perspectives. I wanted both an older individual and a younger individual, because different generations approach things differently and there's a lot to learn from both. And so I wanted to make sure that I surrounded myself with people who had different identities than I did, and it really was successful. There were sometimes though that there was some tension at the beginning. Because if there are so many differences, there's research that shows that when there are differences, people tend to clash. And then they walk away from it because, no, see, I knew this wasn't going to work but actually, that's healthy. The conflict is healthy because you're learning your norms and your group is going through norman and forming. And if you're all alike, you know your norms, you know your identities. But if you're different, you can learn each other's strengths and opportunities for growth. >> Right, and that's important especially in business and in the workplace. >> Absolutely, particularly thinking about what we've gone through the last few years. Understanding people, what people bring to the table, what experiences they have. What challenges that they're facing and how can they grow and develop. >> Absolutely wonderful, well, that's the last question within this, let's close it down. >> All righty, well, thank you so much for being engaged in part one, thinking through what inclusive leadership looks like. Now would be a great time to pull out your journal and reflect on some of the questions that we talked about. As well as watch some of the external resources that we provided, bye for now.