You know that feeling that comes up on Sundays? Maybe it’s when you first wake up and you realize it’s Sunday, or sometime mid-day when that sense of dread rushes through your body like a lightning bolt as you realize tomorrow is Monday? It can ruin your whole day, robbing you of the rest and … Read more
Just before all the restaurants were closed due to Coronavirus, I was meeting with my colleague, Kim, over lunch. We started talking about how much more we had been using videoconferencing for our meetings. I mentioned that in addition to all the in-person trainings I do, I have used videoconferencing for my meetings and trainings … Read more
Yesterday, the Coronavirus was upgraded to pandemic status by the World Health Organization. Events and gatherings are being canceled. Entire universities are closing their doors and sending their students home. We are encouraged to isolate ourselves more and more as social anxiety around the situation continues to mount. We are social beings. We are not … Read more
As you know, Starbucks has been in the news recently because of events in one of their stores in Philadelphia where two black men were arrested for trespassing simply waiting for their meeting to begin. Responding immediately to the extremely harmful actions of their personnel, Starbucks took responsibility by choosing to provide implicit bias training … Read more
Updated February 9th, 2021 How to avoid doing more harm than good, avoid potential disasters, and minimize resistance from organization members! 5 things to consider when you’re hiring a DEI consultant: Does your organization have a DEI Strategic Plan? Hiring a DEI consultant should be considered part of a comprehensive approach to cultural change in … Read more
At a retreat I recently attended at the Deer Park Retreat Center in Colorado, we were ringing in the new year with a discussion on the joy of authenticity. When we think about connecting with each other and building relationships across social differences, showing up and interacting from our authentic selves is critically important. Authenticity: … Read more
Culture Clash: How to engage people who have a different worldview than you I was speaking to a large group of people last week about racial justice and the importance of learning about what we don’t know we don’t know. Many people in the room are leaning in, wanting more. They know what we all … Read more
“Reacting to offensive comments is not simply a matter of course, where a comment is made and we just respond. These comments are typically fraught with an emotional charge. Thus, responding effectively depends in large part on our ability to recognize and acknowledge our own emotional reactions. Emotional intelligence, or EI (Goleman, 1995) is used … Read more
These first few weeks have been devastating to U.S. civil rights. Those of us who believe in freedom for all are certainly under attack. As my friend, colleague, and partner in crime, Stephany Rose reminded me recently after she marched on Washington and visited the Holocaust Museum: It only took Hitler 6 months to become … Read more
I’m standing in the midst of thousands of people at Denver’s MLK Day Marade (March/Parade), which is known as the largest MLK Day gathering of any in the U.S., and we are in the middle of an intersection in front of the looming State Capitol, and we are chanting, “I believe (clap, clap, clap)… we … Read more