59. Building a Diverse Team Requires Getting Clear on Your Values
Erica + India explain why establishing values is foundational to building a diverse team. Diversity built on anything else is just a show.
In today’s episode, India shares the various “diversity” stages her company has gone through and why her team has looked different at different times. Erica + India make an analogy between a book’s composition – it’s cover, the inner contents, the glue that binds everything together – to a company’s marketing, company culture, and values. The analogy is both simple and powerful.
Finally, they remind listeners that if your company is the real deal in terms of diverse company culture, you need to get it on your “cover.”
Are you ready to listen in? What’s Happening In This Episode
[0:00:36] The various stages of “diversity” within India’s business
[0:03:45] Your team includes non-employee support too.
[0:06:10] When companies try to pose as if they are diverse in hopes of becoming more diverse...
[0:09:58] Does the company culture support the type of change they say they want to foster?
[0:12:10] Stock photos as a way to hide or give a nod to the idea of diversity
[0:13:27] Comparing the contents of a book and its cover to a business’s DEI culture
[0:14:25] On properly compensating your team members
[0:17:34] Is your pro-women business movement borderline anti-men?
[0:21:03] Values bind together marketing and company culture
[0:23:00] If you’re for real, put it on the cover of the book
WHAT’S ONE ACTION YOU CAN TAKE AWAY FROM THE DISCUSSION?
If the interior of your business is diverse, integrate that into your business’s “cover.” Like it or not, you are judged by the cover.
QUOTES
“People don’t always consider who is part of making your brand what it is and helping you to speak to and serve your clients, which really is what, at least in my opinion, is what a team is.” + Erica
“When you decide to insert black hands here, you’re not fixing the problem. All you’re doing is perpetuating a lie. And that’s not helpful...at all. That’s indicative that more work needs to be done.” + Erica
“’Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Your marketing, your branding – that is the cover.” + India
“It is one thing to hire. It is another to maintain. It is another to have somebody be integrated as part of the team and to feel as though they are a functioning, thriving part of the decisionmaking and execution process.” + Erica
“There are so many conversations that are so pro-women that they’re actually borderline anti-men.” + India
“Your marketing...is the cover of your book. The interior pages is what your real company culture looks like.” + India