Latest / Daily Influence / 758. DEI in America: Freedom, Equity, and Positive Influence (rerun)

Transcript

758. DEI in America: Freedom, Equity, and Positive Influence (rerun) · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IE Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share Daily Influence with someone who could use a little extra positivity today.
• 0:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: And make us part of your Daily routine, whether it's during your commute, on a walk, or an quiet moment just for you, because you're influenced matters.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hey everybody, Brian Smith here with the I and team series and your daily influence and I'm really excited and a little nervous actually to talk about today's topic as I travel around the country, which I do a lot, I get to interact with a lot of different people in our business at I a and.
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: with the IM team series.
• 1:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have really zero barriers between us and the different political affiliations, the different cultures that are in our country.
• 1:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's the first thing I want to remind everybody is that regardless of what we're going through and how we feel about
• 1:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: our administration or our past administration, where we're at today or where we think we're going to be tomorrow and in the future.
• 1:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: We here in the United States are still the freest people on Earth.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: We live in the most diverse country with the most freedoms for all people.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: of anywhere on the planet, despite the challenges that we face with immigration, despite the issues that we hear drilled into our add-over and over.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a fact.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it's really important as you walk through our nation, as you interact with us, to really realize how close we are as a nation, how all of these different cultures that are here, all of these different people,
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: established us as the DEI capital of the world.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: We are the most diverse.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Our people here have the most equity in life.
• 2:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it is the most inclusive.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: And yes,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: you can get very nitpicky about whatever group you want to put yourself in.
• 2:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to segregate yourself by sexual orientation, race, wealth, or have or have not, then you are beginning to contribute to the disconnect and freedoms messy.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's amazingly difficult to have a free society.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: It requires tolerance.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: It requires empathy or requires understanding.
• 3:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: It requires an ability to put others in front of yourself in moments.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Not for your whole life, but in moments where you have to tolerate something that you don't understand that you have ignorance with, or that you've flat out, maybe just don't like.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: And as long as it doesn't threaten the welfare of you
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  [SPEAKER_01]: or anyone in your area of influence, you should have that tolerance, you should have that understanding.
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: But as soon as any one of us becomes part of a group that wants to dictate to others, the way that they should live act, feel whatever definition or whatever thing you want to apply to that.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Whenever we do that, we are taking away from the freedoms that
• 3:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: this country was built to provide to everybody.
• 3:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: And yes, we've made a lot of mistakes along the way.
• 3:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not here to debate that.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: But what I am here to talk about is how we can lean into what is happening right now.
• 4:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: How we can lean into as individuals and as people with influence.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Wherever you are, whatever area of influence you have, you can lean into these issues and begin to pivot us back towards this.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: free place that we actually have and start to rebuild the perception and rebuild the reality.
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: So don't just make it a perception, make it a reality for everybody in your area of influence.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: That we do live in the freeest, the most diverse, the most equity, providing and the most inclusive place.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And to do that, I would encourage you to recognize whatever unique strength you have because you have one.
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't matter what you're doing.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Your influence matters, so recognize it.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And recognize those around you uplifting them.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Talk about how they contribute.
• 4:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: talk about the things that you do actually matter to the people in your area of influence.
• 5:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: And if you don't like the area of influence that you're in, look for an off ramp and get onto another path that takes you into an area of influence that you want to be.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: You have that right and you have that ability here.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it's only when we recognize our own individual merits
• 5:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: that we can begin to uplift ourselves individually and highlight ourselves and develop what's needed to reach those goals, those objectives that we've created.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And if we do that in this DEI world where as we're choosing people to join our groups or exit our groups, we're looking at them for their passion, for their technical skills, for their wish to learn, they're wish to integrate, their ability to
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  [SPEAKER_01]: become part of a new area of influence they want to belong to without seemingly or even having to shed their foundation.
• 6:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's when we open up opportunity to blast through
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  [SPEAKER_01]: the discrimination, the bias, and everything else that is out there, because at the end of the day, those things don't really matter to the broad audience.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And remember, integrity matters.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And integrity is simple.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: It's being fair.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: People need to understand what requirements are.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: They should have and be transparent about.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: what the needs are of anything.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Look, if I want to work as an accountant somewhere, I need to know accounting.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And if the person that's hiring me as an accountant says they want somebody with two years of accounting experience.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And they want that experience to be in, let's say, a certain area of accounting.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Then I don't have it, I'm not qualified.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Being ethical starts with explaining what the needs are and not using discriminatory, non-inclusive, segregating by frivolous parameters to separate us.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: being in account has nothing to do with our race, has nothing to do with our sexual orientation or our religion, where we live, but it has everything to do with our technical skills, our honest steering, integrity, our understanding of tax law or generally accepted accounting principles.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: And if you've been convicted of financial crimes, you should probably not be in accounting.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: That is being ethical about making choice of people who join your team in different areas.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: You can apply this to anything, but what you should never apply is what religion are you.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Are you married or not married?
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Do you have children or not?
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  [SPEAKER_01]: What's your age?
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  [SPEAKER_01]: What political affiliation are you?
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Those things should never even come into practice.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: They should never come into the conversation.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: They don't matter.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And if they do, then you're segregating.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And we should always have an inclusive environment.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: By the way, inclusive environments create equity.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: I have a whole different take on what I think equity should be.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Equity is a two-way street.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: I look at equity kind of from a capitalist perspective.
• 8:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: And what I mean by that is, is look to have equity in something you have to invest.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And if you want to have equity in the United States, you're going to have to invest in understanding our laws, understanding what freedom is, understanding what D.E.I.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: is, that if you want to come here and you're from some other part of the world, you're not going to change the United States as a whole to be like where you came from.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And why would you, if where you came from is so great, why are you coming here?
• 9:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now, there are good answers to that like, well, I have family here and, or, you know, opportunities here that I couldn't have there, and I want to have some of my culture around me and, by the way, the United States has that, but equity is about investing in where you're going and also for us as leaders who have organizations, equity is investing in those that are coming on board and joining us, getting them the training they need.
• 9:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: paying them the money so that they can live, take care of their families, enjoy the time away from work, upskilling them, including them in where we're going and how we're getting there.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Inclusive environments are more than just having a job.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: They are,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: all of us feel seen.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: All of us are heard.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: All of us are valued for whatever contribution we make.
• 9:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: And by the way, every single person in every single organization is making a contribution.
• 10:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: And every one of those contributions is
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: important.
• 10:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because if it wasn't important, why would they be there?
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And to look at them as anything less than important is devaluing them and the position they have.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And by the way, if you devalue them and the position they have, then you are devaluing your own company.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: You are devaluing your own choice in hiring and even creating that position.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: So you change the way that you look at what inclusivity means.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Find different ways to get collaboration.
• 10:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And by the way, when you start to engage your entire team in collaboration, innovation happens.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And when we have organizations built with different humans from different cultures,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: that come from different experiences, innovation is new and different.
• 10:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Some of the best ideas, some of the best things I've ever been involved in, have come from people who aren't even involved in growing my organizations.
• 11:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Some of the best solutions to the most,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: seemingly complex issues that nobody could fix have come from people who are not traditionally known as leaders, their line members, their warehouse workers, their drivers, their people who are in part to the company that aren't immersed in what was going on, but they could see it from the outside from a perspective that none of us had even thought about.
• 11:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: and adapting these inclusive, these equity driven.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: ideas across everything is what makes us diverse.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Look at your own DEI initiatives and if you don't have one and you don't think you need one, you're wrong.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: You need to think about it.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a high profile issue.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And no, you don't need to jump on a bandwagon and try to make it complex.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: The way to be diverse provide equity is to be inclusive.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: Let people speak.
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  [SPEAKER_01]: And when they do listen, let anybody join your company, regardless of what they look like, who they are as long as they have good technical skills and are just friendly, good humans, if they communicate well, if they can get the job done, all that other stuff doesn't matter.
• 12:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: And ensure that you practice that and that you are consistent in that.
• 12:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: And when you feel your bias is coming up,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: check yourself, look in the mirror and ask yourself, why do I feel the way I do about this particular person or situation?
• 12:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: What bias might I have?
• 12:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: What past emotion or past experience is causing me to feel this way?
• 12:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: And understand that those biases are necessarily wrong, they're built to protect us.
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: But when we lean into them to understand them better, our subconscious and unconscious biases, that challenge us all the time.
• 13:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because of all of this outside noise we have,
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  [SPEAKER_01]: We can not push them away, but engage with them for what they were really intended to do, which is to protect us from danger.
• 13:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: And by the way, most of the danger we feel in this area, this thing about diversity and equity inclusion, the negative feelings and the emotions that we have, are being driven by
• 13:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: other people who are just trying to stir the pot, they're trying to inflict their influence on us, which by the way, contradicts completely what DEI stands for.
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: They want us to choose a side and there shouldn't be a side we should all be in this together as Americans, as humans.
• 13:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: So adopt a DEI strategy that thinks that way.
• 13:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Build your organization through mentorship, through professional
• 13:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: through unbiased lenses, but not getting rid of bias, but understanding them and engaging with them for what they are and where they came from.
• 14:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: So you have better clarity, better transparency and don't be afraid to talk about them.
• 14:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And this is a very deep topic for the Daily Influence, but we are being inundated by this right now.
• 14:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I hope that today's talk didn't feel like I was just throwing it at you that it will help you to engage in some deeper thought about what this topic means.
• 14:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: To you individually, those around you in your area of influence and how you might lean into it just a little bit
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  [SPEAKER_01]: influence in this area that we all face every day and get us back to what this great country was meant to be free.
• 14:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: I hope you have a great day and I look forward to talking to you all for