Dear Corporate America: By Not Talking About It, You’re Sending a Clear Message
Shortly after the death of George Floyd in May of 2020, corporate statements and earnings call mentions of support for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) jumped through the roof. At that time and for at least two years afterward, it seemed that everyone was talking about the importance of DEI, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and Sustainability. Corporate leaders had finally...
The Changing Landscape of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has become an increasingly prominent focus for organizations over the last two decades. The murder of George Floyd in May of 2020 sparked a wave of public declarations of support by major US companies. However, recent political and legal developments have created new challenges and uncertainties around corporate and institutional DEI efforts. To better...
The Stress of Disrespect
Since February I’ve been on a national tour for my new book Restoring Respect, speaking at conferences attended by human resources and diversity, equity, and inclusion professionals. In the past seven months I’ve been, or I’m going to Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida (twice!), Texas, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Georgia, and half a dozen sites California. Phew! This week I’m in Phoenix at...
Caution – Delicate Work Ahead
Let’s face it, as of this week, politically and legally speaking the U.S. is now in deep, uncharted waters. Never before has a former President been indicted on federal criminal charges. The media is calling it historic, which it most certainly is. At the same time, all indicators are that as a society, we haven’t been this polarized since the Civil War and we haven’t experienced such public...
It’s Good to Get Out
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou I’m out of my office on travel right now, for work, and I’m enjoying it even more than I thought I would. Why? Partly because delivering our flagship workshop on Respectful...
Ink Blotches on Letterhead
This week, we’re doing something new – turning over our newsletter to a dear friend and client whom I had the privilege to serve as a consultant many decades ago. He recently shared a story about something he did back then that I think is very moving and profound. He gave me permission to reprint his story, but he’d prefer to remain anonymous. Still, I can say that at the time he was serving...
The Five Keys to Restoring Respect
In June, we hosted our first ever certification program for HR leaders, senior managers, and executive coaches who wanted to learn how to run our Coaching for Respect™ (CfR) Process and become Certified as CfR Expert Coach | Facilitators. We had 16 people in the training cohort for two and half days at a georgous little hotel overlooking San Diego Bay, and it went really well. It was also...
30 Years and 2,500 Programs in Learning & Development – Has Anything Changed?
My first real training development and delivery job was for the New York City Police Department in the 1980’s and it was a doozy: use professional actors to help train police officers learn how to manage what they called “EDP”s – Emotionally Disturbed Persons. My responsibility was to cast and direct the actors and help them create realistic characters – like drug addicts going through...
Striking Down Reality
When it comes to expressing my thoughts on the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action in college and university admissions, it is clear to me that there are so many voices calling out today with first-hand experience that are far more educated and eloquent than mine. I can only speak from my heart, and it is hurting now. Its hurting because I know that for centuries,...