I thought I would write a post about Santa Claus. Yes that is right. And how I see he relates to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace. No I am not joking.
The reason I use this analogy is that it is very tough to have a real conversation about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace. It is akin to telling a child that there is no such thing as Santa Claus.
So what I have seen, is that some practitioners will not tell the whole truth. They will hold things back. They sometimes think that the person they are talking to doesn’t have the maturity to handle the truth, even as an adult.
Maybe they are worried that they need to make the sale? Or come from the point of view that maybe something about the story of Santa Claus will not quite fit for them and they might want to hear the truth in the future? I’m not sure.
But for me, now that I see it in this way, I will start to give my audiences a choice. Do you want me to talk to you about DEI in the same way I would talk to you about Santa Claus being real?
Or do you want me to talk to you truthfully and authentically? Like what happened to Ruby Bridges less than 70 years ago. Yes she is still alive.
Perhaps I will prepare two sets of slides, but to talk about it as if Santa Claus is real I will charge double!
The concern that I have is that without having authentic, emotionally challenging, and confronting conversations, we will never move forward as a society. And we will be a poorer society for that.
What do you all think about this?
