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Navigating Diversity and Equity Across Borders: Insights from Toby Mildon

Toby Mildon is on a mission to help put the right strategies in place to improve retention, innovation, productivity, profitability and so much more. In this episode of Training Unleashed, Evan Hackle and Toby have an enlightening discussion on diversity and inclusion.

Comparing Diversity Discussions: UK vs. US

The definitions of diversity, equity, and inclusion are remarkably similar in the UK and the US. Toby emphasizes the importance of all three elements for creating a fair society. Diversity includes everyone, inclusion enables full contributions, and equity emphasizes personalized approaches. Toby introduces the iceberg analogy, stating that visible characteristics represent only 10% of our diversity, while the remaining 80% consists of invisible attributes. Understanding this diversity is crucial for creating an inclusive and respectful work environment.

Impact of Bias on Decision-Making

Bias, often automatic and unintentional, significantly influences decision-making, especially in critical situations like hiring or promotions. Toby highlights the importance of being mindful, curious, and challenging assumptions to understand individuals and their strengths.

Six Signature Traits of Inclusive Leadership

Toby shares the six traits identified by Deloitte for inclusive leadership:

  1. Curiosity: A trait essential for inclusive leaders.
  2. Cognizance: Being aware of biases and blind spots.
  3. Courage: Fostering honest, frank, and brave discussions.
  4. Cultural Intelligence: Understanding and navigating different cultures.
  5. Collaboration: Encouraging effective collaboration across teams.
  6. Commitment: A commitment to diversity and inclusion, challenging the status quo.
Inclusive Growth: Good for Business

Toby emphasizes that diverse teams make better decisions, and McKinsey’s reports support the idea that diverse leadership teams lead to more profitable businesses. Inclusive cultures improve creativity, innovation, customer experiences, and employee retention, leading to positive business outcomes.

About Our Guest

Toby Mildon, the founder of Milton Echo Ltd., is a dedicated advocate for fostering inclusive cultures within organizations. With a wealth of experience, Toby collaborates with clients to drive positive change, improve productivity, and create environments where everyone feels valued. For more information about Toby Mildon and his work, visit Milton Echo Ltd.. Connect with Toby on LinkedIn, where he shares valuable content regularly.

2024-01-29T17:36:23-05:00February 21, 2024|

Creating Inclusive Workplaces: A Conversation with Sejal Thakkar

Sejal Thakkar is on a mission to educate and empower people to create a world where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. In this episode of “Training Unleashed,” host Evan Hackel engaged in a compelling conversation with Sejal, delving into the critical aspects of equity, diversity, and employee civility in the workplace.

The Hard Way v. The Easy Way?

The discussion kicks off with the question of whether companies prefer the hard way or the easy way when it comes to training and coaching leaders. Thakkar emphasizes the importance of being proactive in providing leaders with the necessary tools to prevent issues, rather than taking shortcuts that might lead to negative consequences later.

Bystander Training: Empowering the Silent Observers

Thakkar passionately advocated for bystander intervention training, shedding light on the pivotal role of bystanders in creating safe environments. By encouraging respectful and professional intervention, organizations can alleviate the burden placed on marginalized individuals and contribute to the establishment of psychological safety.

The HAT Technique

Thakkar introduces the HAT technique—an acronym for Hold Off, Ask Why, and Take Action—as a framework for mitigating unconscious biases. This technique encourages individuals to question immediate reactions, explore the reasons behind biases, and take actions that promote inclusivity.

Golden Rule? No, The Platinum Rule!

The episode concludes with a valuable tip from Sajel: adopting the platinum rule—treating others how they want to be treated. By understanding and respecting individual differences, organizations can enhance creativity, innovation, and overall workplace dynamics.

About Our Guest

Sejal is a former employment law attorney, a 2X TEDx speaker, and the Founder and Chief Civility Officer at TrainXtra, where she helps leaders create positive, safe, and respectful workplaces through customized training and coaching. She is responsible for cultivating a people-first culture at Nobody Studios.

She invites all organizations to explore TrainXtra‘s workshops and resources. Whether in-person or virtual, TrainXtra offers a diverse range of workshops covering topics such as unconscious bias, microaggressions, and fostering diversity and inclusion.

2023-11-17T17:26:25-05:00November 17, 2023|

Driving Business Value through DEI with Frank Clark

 

In this episode of Training Unleashed, Evan talks to Frank Clark, a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) expert and CEO of Via Group Partners about the importance of having a DEI strategy for your business.

When asked, Frank defined DEI as, “Diversity is diversity of thought. Diversity of experiences. Diversity of, of course, ethnicity. And diversity of professional pedigree. It comes in all shapes and sizes… So, today, it’s very prevalent today because diversity, equity and inclusion drives business value.”

According to Frank, DEI isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good business. “It drives business performance. It drives value. It drives innovation. It drives creativity.”

Frank shared a great case study of a company where his team is currently working on a DEI strategy. He noted that most companies see the benefit of DEI when they are compared to similar companies that are focused on DEI. “A homogeneous company underperforms one that is diverse. Always.” Explained Frank.

The company in the case study was doing well, but not exceptionally well. Of the other companies they looked at in their analysis, Frank noted, “9 out of 10 had diverse leadership. And, 9 out of 10 had a diverse board. They had diversity in experiences, diversity in professional pedigree, diversity in ethnicity, diversity in approach and strategic thinking, in philosophy.” And they were all outperforming the company in the case study.

During the interview, Frank shared some tips that can help companies that want to have DEI as part of their business strategy get started. And remember to listen to the end to get Frank’s BIG tip.

Frank’s Giveaway

Frank is offering a 30-minute consultant to Training Unleashed listeners to look at DEI as part of your business strategy. You can connect with Frank through their website at: https://viagrouppartners.com/

About Our Guest

Frank Clark is an experienced business builder and CEO of Via Group Partners. He brings deep expertise in the areas of operational, business development, strategy and M&A leadership. Over his 25-year executive career, Frank has led and mobilized teams in hyper-competitive corporate and entrepreneurial cultures. He has also built businesses organically from zero to $500M per year in large matrixed corporate environments, such as RR Donnelley where he held the position of Business Unit President. Frank previously served as Senior Vice President and Corporate Strategy head for Hoshizaki America. In addition to Via Group Partners, Frank is also the CEO and Managing Partner of CEG, LLC a middle market private equity firm with a focus on business services, manufacturing, technology and industrial services.

Frank serves on numerous for-profit and nonprofit boards including University of Chicago Medicine, American Red Cross of Chicago and Northern Illinois, Illinois Institute of Technology, One Hope United, Earthwise Global, Liberty Advisor Group, SG360, and Diversys Software. He has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelors in Economics from Northern Illinois University.

2021-05-13T07:59:15-04:00May 13, 2021|

Fixing Workplace Injustice with Kim Scott and Trier Bryant

 

In this episode of Training Unleashed, Evan is joined by Kim Scott and Trier Bryant, co-founders of Just Work LLC. They have a very interesting discussion about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace and how we can be part of the solution to fix workplace injustice.

Just Work, the company, takes the theory from Kim’s most recent book, Just Work, and puts it to work. According to their research, bias, prejudice and bullying are the root causes of workplace injustice and each cause problems in the workforce, AND there are different ways to respond to each whether it is happening to you or you are an upstander.

Not only do Kim and Trier provide great examples of how to respond to bias, prejudice and bullying, they also give guidance on what leaders need to have in place in the workplace to help guide them, whether that be values, a code of conduct or consequences. But you’ll need to listen to the episode to get all of the great tips and guidance they provide.

And, their tips and guidance aren’t just for the workplace… think about children having to deal with bias, prejudice and bullying. Their advice can be used where ever you encounter injustice.

This is a great interview with Kim and Trier sharing their experiences, and tips to help you create the kind of environment where everyone can do their best work and enjoy working together. Remember to listen to the end to hear their BIG tip and giveaway available on the Just Work website.

Kim and Trier’s Giveaway

Kim and Trier are currently curating personal stories to help bring the Just Work framework to life. They invite Training Unleashed listeners to share your story with them by completing an online form on their website: https://www.justworktogether.com/share-your-story

About Our Guests

Kim Scott is the author of Just Work: Get *t Done Fast and Fair as well as Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity. Trier Bryant and Kim co-founded the company Just Work to help organizations and individuals create more equitable workplaces. Jason Rosoff and Kim co-founded the company Radical Candor to help people cultivate caring and candid relationships at work by implementing a feedback-first culture.. Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and other tech companies. She was a member of the faculty at Apple University and before that led AdSense, YouTube, and DoubleClick teams at Google. Earlier in her career Kim managed a pediatric clinic in Kosovo and started a diamond-cutting factory in Moscow. She lives with her family in Silicon Valley.

Trier Bryant is Co-Founder and CEO of Just Work LLC. She is a strategic executive leader with distinctive Tech, Wall Street, and military experience spanning over 15 years. She’s previously held leadership roles at Astra, Twitter, Goldman Sachs, and proudly served as a combat veteran in the United States Air Force as a Captain leading engineering teams while spearheading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for the Air Force Academy, Air Force, and DoD. Additionally, Trier advises leading companies like Equinox, Airbnb, SoundCloud, Alto, Rockefeller Foundation, and others on their talent and DEI strategies. Trier has an unwavering commitment to employees within organizations to create a more equitable, inclusive, and thriving workplaces producing prosperous companies. She has been featured as an influential DEI practitioner by several publications and outlets from USA Today to CNN and SXSW. Trier earned a B.S. in Systems Engineering with a minor in Spanish and Leadership from the United States Air Force Academy (Beat Army, Sink Navy) where she played Division I volleyball. Trier enjoys spending time with her close knit family who taught her to live by the family motto “…good enough isn’t.”

2021-04-29T09:16:46-04:00April 27, 2021|
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