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Diversity
Diversity is all about bringing together people from a range of different backgrounds and experiences and meeting across differences in a way that creates the most possibility for creativity, problem-solving, impact, understanding of the world and more. Learning about difference, about racism, sexism, sexual orientation, and other forms of systematic oppression requires an appreciation of different views and life experiences. Diversity is everywhere in the natural world and brings richness and variety to our lives. Research shows that the more diverse teams have the best outcomes. We embrace the notion that there are multiple realities and welcome them, even when they spark strong emotions in us.
Inclusion
Bringing together diverse teams is not enough. Inclusion is a continual act, not representation. We need to create environments where all voices are heard so that diversity can be fully leveraged. A primacy is placed on deeply listening to the voices of People of Color and other marginalized groups. A rich body of research on teams shows that the most important factor in leveraging team potential is psychological safety. In other words, for diversity to be leveraged, all people in the group must share their perspective and for all people to share their perspective, there must be a sense of safety within the group, a feeling from members that they will be supported by other group members when sharing their ideas.Team members must learn and practice the skills of empathy, curiosity, deep listening and managing bias to surface the perspectives and experiences of all so that best outcomes emerge from the group.
Race
Race is a social construct created by White people to perpetuate an unequal, not empathetic and brutal social order. All White people have more or less blind spots and sometimes are in very deep denial about the role race plays in society; as well as in the daily lives of themselves and others. Given this, it is especially important to acknowledge that doing DIRECT work is often challenging for White people due to being confronted with aspects of people’s individuality and society that can be surprising, confusing and upsetting. For some people, their racial group has been a part of their awareness since the earliest years of their lives. For others, racial identity with a certain group is a fairly new awareness, and, for some others something they have still not awoken to. Awareness of one’s own racial identity and the identity and experience of other groups is critical in understanding the world in which we live and in working to create a more equitable and fair society.
Equity
This principle speaks to the unequal nature of opportunity and resource distribution, and our interest in supporting leaders to take action to name, address and shift patterns in organizations and society that advantage one group over another. Equity, in the context of diversity, race and inclusion, means an environment free of favoritism or different standards for different people. We, in the USA, live in a White supremacist culture where people are seen and judged differently based on the color of their skin. We live in a society where White people are consistently favored, consistently elevated into positions of power, presumed innocent and where White cultural norms are held as the standard for all people. Conversely, Black people and other People of Color in our society are consistently overlooked, held down, asked to conform to White standards and given little room to express their cultural customs, preferences and styles.
Compassion & Care
Creating a more equitable society and more inclusive teams will only happen when people embody compassion, care, empathy and curiosity in relating and conversing across difference. Learning and growing are social acts. We need to engage actively with these issues, with each other, and with our own racial and gendered selves. We want to stay connected with our emotions, thoughts and with one another. In conversations across difference, care looks like showing genuine curiosity in the experience of others and staying in relationship, even when mistakes are made and the conversation gets hard.
Trauma
Trauma shows up in two ways in DIRECT work. In conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion, it is important to be aware that members of subordinated and marginalized groups have personal and embodied ancestral memories of trauma based solely on their difference. Not due to their own behavior, but their membership in groups that have been consciously and systematically controlled, disadvantaged, harmed and excluded. This makes it especially important for care, concern and compassion to be exercised by all members of the learning community. A second way the effects of trauma can be experienced in this work is by any individual who has had traumatic life experiences, or particular sensitivity to emotional data within themselves, other people or at the group level. For this reason, we need to work slowly, carefully and with respect for each person’s process.
What is DIRECT?
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Diversity
Diversity is all about bringing together people from a range of different backgrounds and experiences and meeting across differences in a way that creates the most possibility for creativity, problem-solving, impact, understanding of the world and more. Learning about difference, about racism, sexism, sexual orientation, and other forms of systematic oppression requires an appreciation of different views and life experiences. Diversity is everywhere in the natural world and brings richness and variety to our lives. Research shows that the more diverse teams have the best outcomes. We embrace the notion that there are multiple realities and welcome them, even when they spark strong emotions in us.
Inclusion
Bringing together diverse teams is not enough. Inclusion is a continual act, not representation. We need to create environments where all voices are heard so that diversity can be fully leveraged. A primacy is placed on deeply listening to the voices of People of Color and other marginalized groups. A rich body of research on teams shows that the most important factor in leveraging team potential is psychological safety. In other words, for diversity to be leveraged, all people in the group must share their perspective and for all people to share their perspective, there must be a sense of safety within the group, a feeling from members that they will be supported by other group members when sharing their ideas.Team members must learn and practice the skills of empathy, curiosity, deep listening and managing bias to surface the perspectives and experiences of all so that best outcomes emerge from the group.
Race
Race is a social construct created by White people to perpetuate an unequal, not empathetic and brutal social order. All White people have more or less blind spots and sometimes are in very deep denial about the role race plays in society; as well as in the daily lives of themselves and others. Given this, it is especially important to acknowledge that doing DIRECT work is often challenging for White people due to being confronted with aspects of people’s individuality and society that can be surprising, confusing and upsetting. For some people, their racial group has been a part of their awareness since the earliest years of their lives. For others, racial identity with a certain group is a fairly new awareness, and, for some others something they have still not awoken to. Awareness of one’s own racial identity and the identity and experience of other groups is critical in understanding the world in which we live and in working to create a more equitable and fair society.
Equity
This principle speaks to the unequal nature of opportunity and resource distribution, and our interest in supporting leaders to take action to name, address and shift patterns in organizations and society that advantage one group over another. Equity, in the context of diversity, race and inclusion, means an environment free of favoritism or different standards for different people. We, in the USA, live in a White supremacist culture where people are seen and judged differently based on the color of their skin. We live in a society where White people are consistently favored, consistently elevated into positions of power, presumed innocent and where White cultural norms are held as the standard for all people. Conversely, Black people and other People of Color in our society are consistently overlooked, held down, asked to conform to White standards and given little room to express their cultural customs, preferences and styles.
Compassion & Care
Creating a more equitable society and more inclusive teams will only happen when people embody compassion, care, empathy and curiosity in relating and conversing across difference. Learning and growing are social acts. We need to engage actively with these issues, with each other, and with our own racial and gendered selves. We want to stay connected with our emotions, thoughts and with one another. In conversations across difference, care looks like showing genuine curiosity in the experience of others and staying in relationship, even when mistakes are made and the conversation gets hard.
Trauma
Trauma shows up in two ways in DIRECT work. In conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion, it is important to be aware that members of subordinated and marginalized groups have personal and embodied ancestral memories of trauma based solely on their difference. Not due to their own behavior, but their membership in groups that have been consciously and systematically controlled, disadvantaged, harmed and excluded. This makes it especially important for care, concern and compassion to be exercised by all members of the learning community. A second way the effects of trauma can be experienced in this work is by any individual who has had traumatic life experiences, or particular sensitivity to emotional data within themselves, other people or at the group level. For this reason, we need to work slowly, carefully and with respect for each person’s process.
Teleos Leadership Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Offerings
DIRECT Team
Ray Fisher
Mike Mellen
Erica Mahady
Miri Wexler
Lizette Suxo
Live Cast/Digital Meeting
The focus of these meetings is on leadership topics related to diversity, inclusion and current events. We can host up to 1000 people. This offering includes planning, advising, designing and co-facilitating with CEO or Senior Executive(s).
Small Organization Development
For these engagements, we connect with the whole organization or subsystems within a larger organization (e.g., foundation, division, clinical practice, school). Smaller organizations are more intimate and require solid, resilient relationships. Our approach integrates a review and alignment of organizational practices related to DIRECT, including conducting interviews, identifying themes, providing feedback and education, action planning, as well as executive coaching and communication advising, as needed. As always, we partner with senior leadership to plan and design any organizational development intervention.
Board/Executive Team Retreats
Our approach to Board or Executive Team retreats involves a systemic view that encompasses race, power, trauma, and effective relationships. It includes a series of Executive Team discussions focused on understanding, responding and taking action in the DIRECT space. This includes interviews to take the pulse of the team, thematic analysis of interview data to focus design of facilitated discussion(s), and agreed upon actions and report on progress.
CEO & Executive Director Coaching
Executives in charge of organizations have special responsibilities and challenges; their leadership during these times of social change is especially critical. We have experienced coaches in the DIRECT space who can help executives find their unique voice and enhance their ability to communicate and make critical decisions, i.e., challenging social and ethical dilemmas due to multiple stakeholder groups.
Executive/Leadership Coaching
We offer executive coaching focused on leadership and resilience, with an integrated developmental focus on DIRECT in systems. All leaders need to attend to effective communication, resilience and self-care. Coaching helps bring corporate values of equity, inclusion, diversity into groups by fostering self-reflection and heightened social awareness and address trauma and power with visible action taking. A coaching engagement will include a series of 60-90 minutes coaching sessions with an ICF-certified Coach with a specialty in DIRECT. Coaches match the needs of their clients, and may have a specific focus dependent upon the racial identity development stage of their client (see below):
- Executive coaching for white people in the workplace: Focuses on the development of racial consciousness and supports positive change leadership for more equitable organizations
- Executive coaching for Black or other underrepresented minorities in the workplace: Focuses on empowerment & strengthening mindset, helps tap into resilience, self-care and an individual’s leadership
Strengthening Leaders’ Ability to Coach and Mentor Across Difference Program
This program focuses on the application of emotional intelligence and the ability to successfully cultivate relationships and learning across difference. It includes a series of virtual sessions designed to deepen participants’ self & social awareness, relationship skills, deep empathy and coaching skills, focusing on racial identity development resulting in leaders better understanding themselves and those on their teams, and increases their ability to help all people on their team to grow and develop, especially those who are different. Included in this program are virtual sessions delivered by Teleos facilitators and a virtual platform moderator; sessions are often held bi-weekly over months with curated resources such as podcasts, readings, videos to support learning during intersessions.
Resonant Leadership 3.0: Leadership, Management and Supervisory Training
This training focuses on creating inclusive, equitable high-performance teams. Leaders, managers and supervisors often need to learn how to create work environments where all team members feel included and able to work well with others; building on our proven Resonant Leadership programs, this 3.0 version integrates organizational DEI efforts into foundational leadership development offerings. This offering includes the design & delivery of training and development programs using research-based approaches focused on emotional intelligence, the neuroscience of unconscious and conscious bias and effective conversations across differences.
Leadership Coach Development with a focus on DIRECT
Organizational leaders at all levels need to develop their ability to lead a diverse workforce, including initiating and conducting conversations about DIRECT. We can provide in-house Coach Development training for leaders and human resource professionals to enhance organizational capacity to respond to the needs of an increasingly vocal and diverse workforce. This course can be design to be an ICF ACC-level Coach Development program, which includes 60 hours of content, practice and supervision to develop top tier skills of emotional intelligence, coaching/mentoring and leading.
DIRECT Team
Ray Fisher
Mike Mellen
Erica Mahady
Miri Wexler
Edward Mwelwa
Ready to ignite change?
Schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our experts today.
