Do any of these stories sound familiar?

Below are a few composite client scenarios to help you get a sense of what our work together can look like. 

Sarah: Corporate Management

Sarah is a leader in her department and has been asked to add diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and metrics to her current work.  Diversity in the organization has been increasing, and things seem to be going fine, but she also isn't really sure if her team would come to her if there were issues.  And, she's questioning how to help ensure everyone feels like they belong.  

Sarah's been to the workshops, and knows a little about DEI, but isn't fully confident in how to lead this work.  On top of that, she has a performance review coming up.  She isn't quite sure how her employees will rate her on her 360 reviews, AND she is expected to propose a professional development plan for the coming year.

After Sarah set up a call, we talked a bit about her concerns and set her up to complete the online Intercultural Development Inventory®.  It only took her about 15 minutes to complete, and we met for an hour to review her results and her Intercultural Development Plan (IDP), a blueprint tailored based on her results that will guide her next steps in learning.  She was amazed at how the debrief really resonated with her experience, and our conversation helped her see how her lens for looking at the world could be impacting her work and her relationships with others.  

In our next meeting, we personalized her plan, looking specifically at ways to help her align the work her goals and help her build it into her schedule and her life.  

We know it takes six months to a year of ongoing committed effort to move from one orientation on the IDI® scale to the next.  Because Sarah could see how this work tied to both her work and personal goals, she signed up for private coaching sessions to help ensure she stays on track with the work and has the support she needs along the way.  She is also signed up for the learning community because she's interested in ongoing resources and reinforcement, as well as the social aspect of engaging with other professionals who are on the same learning journey.  She wants to repeat the IDI at the end of the year to assess her learning.

The goals Sarah is currently focused on include:

• Better understanding the dimensions of diversity and culture that are currently present on her team.

• Find new ways of considering and interacting with her team members in ways that help ensure everyone feels included and is set up to be able to both contribute to their highest capability and receive the support they need in order to do so.

• Develop a strategy and skills for ongoing learning that will set her up for success as the composition of her team and organization change over time.

Find out how you can become better prepared to support your team and play your role in DEI efforts.

Victor: Healthcare Administration

As an experienced health care provider and administrator who cares deeply for his patients, Victor knows all too well the health disparities that are showing up in their patients' communities.  He knows that systemic factors play a huge role, but also understands that each interaction a patient has with someone in their organization can also have a significant effect on their health.  How someone is treated during their first call, their first time at the desk, and of course, the time spent with a care provider can affect whether they ever walk through that door again... and it also can impact the quality of the care they receive during their visit.  

In his new role as a leader of other team leaders, he also knows that each has a different lens through which they see and assess one another, their own teams, and the patients they serve.  He wants to ensure his leaders are getting the professional development and support they need to better understand how their own personal lenses, as well as their group-level lens, may be impacting their work: from how they interact with colleagues and patients to how they see, interpret, and make plans to address issues that arise in their departments.

While the Chief Diversity Officer is working with them on implementing DEI strategies across the organization for recruitment, hiring, retention, and patient satisfaction, Victor sees an opportunity to improve the functioning of his team, both for those they lead as well as for the health of the patients they serve.  He is committed to spending the next year doing a deep dive. His initial goals are:

• Assessing the current mindsets of his team and individual team members.  Individual and team-level debriefs will help them understand their current strengths and limitations as leaders and as a team and provide personalized development plans.

• Working together to set a clear path forward for clarifying and expanding their vision, and setting team goals for aligned professional development.

• Planning for a customized mix of coaching, education, and consulting support they need along the way to achieve these goals.

Let's talk about preparing your team to be more inclusive leaders and set a plan for growth.